Their Double Baby Gift
Can two and two – really make four?Widower Major Matt Galloway came to London Grace Hospital for his tiny daughter. But he finds himself facing a barrel of emotions on meeting beautiful Dr Brooke Bailey—his late wife’s best friend and single mum to her own baby girl.Brooke can’t believe Matt is her new boss. But the feelings she has for him are even more troublesome. Brooke swore to raise her baby alone, but loving father Matt melts her heart and Brooke starts to hope…could they really make one big happy family, after all?
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Can two and two really make four?
Widower Major Matt Galloway came to London Grace Hospital for his tiny daughter. But he finds himself facing a barrel of emotions on meeting beautiful Dr. Brooke Bailey—his late wife’s best friend and single mother to her own baby girl.
Brooke can’t believe Matt is her new boss. But the feelings she has for him are even more troublesome. Brooke swore she would raise her baby alone, but loving father Matt melts her heart and Brooke starts to hope...could they really make one big happy family after all?
‘You’re a romantic, Dr Bailey?’
Brooke smiled at Matt before returning her gaze to the couple in front of them. ‘And a dreamer. But don’t we all hope and dream for happiness in some way?’
Matt didn’t answer. But he stared at her profile, at the way her nose turned up slightly at the end, at the fullness of her smiling lips, at the gentle way one brown tress of hair had escaped her messy bun and rested upon her shoulder. It looked soft and silky, and it seemed wrong to him that someone as sweet and lovely as her should be alone when clearly she had so much love to give.
He concentrated for a moment on his notes. Blood pressure. Respirations. Pulse. Patient. But his mind wouldn’t stay focused. It was as if there was a small cyclone of thoughts whizzing around, picking up the leaves of his thoughts and tossing them into the mix.
Lily.
Yes. His daughter had to be his priority. Worrying about Brooke’s love life was not his responsibility. Nothing to do with him. She was his friend, but that was all she would ever be. He couldn’t allow himself to think any more of her than that.
But if that was the case then why was she the only thing he could think about?
When I had my babies I went to a variety of baby classes. One of them was a Music and Movement class, where I naively thought that I’d get to sit on the floor holding my baby and helping her move to music—kind of like baby yoga.
Only it wasn’t a class where I could sit on my butt and pretend my baby was enjoying herself. It was a singing and dancing class, and the leader announced at the first one that we would ‘all go round the circle, take it in turns to dance into the centre, and introduce yourself and your baby!’
I’m sure you can imagine my horror.
So I had to include something similar in Brooke and Matt’s story. It was hilarious revisiting all those old feelings and memories and the cringe-worthy stuff you put yourself through in an effort to be a good parent.
Brooke and Matt are trying to be excellent parents. They want to do what’s best for their babies, no matter how strong their urge to stay indoors and hibernate away from the rest of the world. They learn, as we all do, that some days you just have to push through.
I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Love,
Louisa xx
LOUISA HEATON lives on Hayling Island, Hampshire, with her husband, four children and a small zoo. She has worked in various roles in the health industry—most recently four years as a Community First Responder, answering 999 calls. When not writing Louisa enjoys other creative pursuits, including reading, quilting and patchwork—usually instead of the things she ought to be doing!
Books by Louisa Heaton
Mills & Boon Medical Romance
The Baby That Changed Her Life
His Perfect Bride? A Father This Christmas? One Life-Changing Night Seven Nights with Her Ex Christmas with the Single Dad Reunited by Their Pregnancy Surprise
Visit the Author Profile page
at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.
For Becca xxx
‘An emotional rollercoaster ride… One Life-Changing Night is medical drama at its best.’
—Goodreads
Contents
SHE WAS RUNNING LATE. Very late. And as she stared at the clock on the car dashboard it seemed to be whizzing through minutes, as if a mischievous imp was maniacally pressing down hard on the fast-forward button.
Why was this happening today? Today of all days? Her first day back after maternity leave. Her first day as a single working mother, back in the A&E department she loved. A department that would now be all the quieter because Jen wasn’t in it.
Dr Brooke Bailey had so wanted this day to start well. Because if it did—if she got through it—then that would be all the proof she needed that her decision to do this on her own was a good one.
It had seemed doable in the early months of her pregnancy, when bravado and optimism had got her through the days. She didn’t need a man. She didn’t need anyone. Only herself—which was just as well, seeing as there wasn’t a whole lot of people she could turn to now. Millions of other single mothers held down a job and coped, didn’t they? Why should it be any more difficult for her?
Only back then, with her rose-tinted spectacles on, she hadn’t predicted that she’d be awake the night before going back to work, doing hourly feeds because Morgan wouldn’t settle. She hadn’t expected that the very second she’d decided to strap Morgan into the car for her commute to work Morgan would have an almighty nappy explosion and would need to be taken back inside the house to be bathed and have everything changed.
