Free Protecting the Pregnant Witness by Julie Miller Page B

privacy. Then she propped her hands on her ample hips and faced her. “You’ve got the height and build to carry the baby without showing too much. But you’re what, five, six months along?” She pulled up another stool and sat beside her. “I don’t think even loose lab jackets and extra-large scrubs can hide the baby anymore. And believe me, around here, you don’t have to. I think it’s a sign of strength to do meaningful work while you’re pregnant. It certainly takes your mind off some of the aches and awkwardness you’re going through.”
    In a way, Josie was glad that Julia had seen through her recent penchant for baggy clothing. The long breath that eased from her chest sounded a lot like a sigh of relief. “How long have you known?”
    “Well, since I’ve helped with several deliveries here and I’ve given birth to two of my own, I was pretty certain when you started your E.R. rotation a couple of months ago. I assumed you’d share the news when you were ready to.”
    “I didn’t want it to interfere with my work here. Trauma nursing is where I want to specialize, and I wanted to make sure I got a good report. I don’t want any special considerations.”
    “Please.” Julia practically snorted. “Your grades are top notch, you’re great with the patients and you absorb everything you see or hear. Needing a few minutes here and there to take care of yourself won’t keep you from getting a good report from me.” Her tone changed to the calm efficiency she used with the sick and injured who came through the E.R. “Is everything going as it should with you and the baby?”
    “Yes. We’re both perfectly healthy.” Josie named the nurse midwife she was seeing and listed the supplements she was taking.
    “She’s good.” Julia rolled her stool a few inches closer. “So, do you know the sex? Have you picked out names?”
    Josie shared a laugh and truly relaxed for the first time since breaking the news of her pregnancy to Rafe. It felt wonderfully decadent to trade some normal conversation about the baby with a friend who saw the life growing inside her as a good thing. “I want the gender to be a surprise when he or she is born. And I’m thinking of old family names. Aaron for my dad if it’s a boy, and Aileen for my grandmother if it’s a girl.”
    Julia’s gaze dropped to the suspiciously unadorned fingers on Josie’s left hand. “And can I be shamefully inappropriate and ask about the daddy?”
    Even though her smile faded, Josie found the older woman’s compassionate curiosity made it possible to talk about Rafe. “He’s a cop at KCPD. A good man. He used to be my dad’s partner before he died. We’ve been friends forever and we kind of forgot that once and…” Josie knit her fingers together over the butterfly tremors she felt moving inside her. “Now it’s hard to even be friends sometimes.”
    “Anyone I know?” Julia asked. “With Taylor for a last name, it feels like I’m related to half the cops on KCPD anymore.”
    “I’d rather not say.”
    Julie nodded her understanding at Josie’s desire to keep at least that one piece of information private. “Does he know about the baby?”
    “I told him last week. Or rather, it slipped out during an argument. Not my finest moment.” Her heart twisted with a familiar pain. Rafe had only been trying to help and she’d thrown the news of the baby at him like some kind of accusation. “I guess I was hoping that we could work things out between us before I told him. But I’m resigning myself to the fact that if us is never going to happen, then he’s not interested in being a father to my baby, either.”
    “If he’s a good man like you say, he’ll come around. Give him a chance to do the right thing.” Reaching across the space between them, Julia gently squeezed Josie’s hand. “You’ve had six months to get used to the idea of starting a family—he’s only had a few days.”
    “I suppose.” Although Josie