Free Cindy's Doctor Charming by Teresa Southwick Page B

control.”
    â€œGo figure.” He stared at the crumbs on his plate.
    â€œSo that’s the reason you’re hovering.”
    He nodded. “I never looked at what we do from the father side of the fence before.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œThat makes one of us. The thing is, I’m a doctor. I know all the things that can happen. I know what can go wrong.” He pointed at her, then himself. “We see babies every day who don’t go full term. The chances of survival go down when they’re born too early—”
    â€œDon’t think that way,” she warned. “There’s no reason to assume a healthy woman in her—”
    â€œTwenties,” he supplied.
    â€œRight.” She nodded. “With good prenatal care a normal pregnancy is the probability.”
    That didn’t seem like enough to ensure a healthy child, he thought. “There must be something more I can do.”
    â€œYou’re going to hate me for saying this,” she informed him.
    â€œWhat?” he asked, bracing himself.
    â€œSupport Cindy emotionally.”
    If he had faith in feelings, Felicia probably would still be alive. Science was what he believed in. He wasn’t aware of any scientific study that proved emotional support would guarantee a full-term, healthy child. “You know better than anyone that I don’t do emotional.”
    â€œRight. If you can’t see or touch something, it doesn’t exist.”
    They’d argued this point for hours in medical school and finally agreed to disagree. “There must be something else I can do.”
    â€œOther than finding her the best obstetrician in the valley there’s only one other thing I can think of.”
    He waited, but she didn’t say more. “Are you going to share?”
    â€œMake sure she has what she needs to minimize heranxiety,” Annie suggested. “Don’t let her exert herself. The rest of it will just fall into place if you’re supportive of her.”
    He wasn’t so sure. Cindy had been pretty concerned about work, school and the expenses involved in caring for a newborn. “Are you sure that’s enough?”
    â€œPositive. Just physically be there.”
    Okay. He could do that. He was a doctor, after all. Physical was what he did. So, it was settled. While Cindy was pregnant with his child, he would be her shadow.

Chapter Six
    P eanut butter and jelly had never tasted this good when she was a kid. Now she was going to have one of her own and Cindy figured that was the reason.
    She took the last bite of the sandwich she’d brought to work, savoring the sweet grape jelly mixing with the crunchy, salty softness of the peanut butter. She was sitting in the hospital’s serenity garden and savored that, too. It was peaceful, and she could use more peace in her life. Ever since she’d won that pesky raffle ticket, peace had been hard to come by.
    She pressed the palm of her hand against her still-flat stomach and tried to really grasp the fact that a baby was in there. A baby fathered by Nathan Steele. Life as she’d known it would never be the same.
    She was going to be a mom.
    Part of her was starting to get excited at the prospect. The other part wondered how in the world she was goingto do this on her own. Because, despite what Nathan had said to her about helping, she didn’t really believe he’d stick around.
    And she was pretty sure she didn’t want him to.
    At least he was honest, not trying to hide the fact that his birth control had failed. He’d only made a small blip on the blame-game meter when he’d hinted that she should be on the pill.
    If only…
    Because she’d sworn never to be stupid about a man again, alternative precautions and the resulting bloat and water retention had seemed unnecessary. Now she was looking at about eight months of both. Not to mention figuring out how to do it all and pay the