Free The Army Doctor's Christmas Baby by Helen Scott Taylor

towards a rustic wooden door and Sean
pushed it open. "Oh, look, girls. Who can you see?" He held Zoe up
and pointed. "There's Santa."
    A fat old man in a Santa suit complete with long white beard
sat on a wooden stool in a mock log cabin surrounded by sacks of brightly
wrapped gifts. "Ho, ho, ho, who do we have here?" he said in a deep
voice.
    Zoe burst into tears and clung to Sean, burying her face
against his chest. Annabelle curled her chubby fingers around Kelly's collar
and held on tightly, but she stared at Santa with rapt attention.
    "Hello, Santa," Sean said. "We've brought Zoe
and Annabelle to see you."
    "Have you been good girls this year?" Santa asked.
    "Of course they have." Kelly grinned at Annabelle
and Zoe, trying to put them at ease. "They're always good girls, aren't
you?"
    "Do you want to sit on Santa's knee?" the man
asked Annabelle.
    Kelly had mixed feelings about handing the toddler over to a
strange man. Annabelle allowed herself to be carried closer without
complaining, but hung on to Kelly for dear life when Santa patted his lap.
    "Both the girls are slightly shy," Kelly said with
an apologetic smile.
    Undaunted, Santa jangled a rod covered in bells. Two old men
dressed as elves came in and did a funny little dance. The whole thing was so
surreal, Kelly had to swallow back a laugh as her gaze collided with Sean's
disbelieving look.
    Santa handed a gift to Annabelle and one to Sean for Zoe.
Then the elves hustled them out, presumably making way for the next in line.
    They emerged onto a busy aisle in the toy section of the
department store.
    "Poor baby," Kelly said to Zoe, hoping to distract
her by helping her unwrap her present. Zoe stopped crying and grasped the small
blue teddy inside, turning it over and trying to pull off its ears. One
immediately came loose.
    "I think she wants to dissect it," Sean quipped.
    "That must be her surgeon genes. You'd better watch out
when she's big enough to use a knife."
    Sean chuckled. They huddled together as people bustled past
in the busy aisle while both girls examined their identical teddies. After a
few minutes, Annabelle tossed hers on the floor and pointed at a display of
dolls, chanting, "Me, me, me."
    Crouching to pick up the discarded toy, Sean tucked it in
the front of Annabelle's coat. "Nothing more for you until Christmas Day,
Little Miss Fickle. Let's hope that tomorrow Santa can come up with something
interesting enough to hold your attention."
    "Does Santa have something interesting lined up for
tomorrow?" Kelly asked with a grin.
    "I hope so. Santa has certainly spent plenty of money
on the presents."
    ***
    Kelly emerged from her bedroom in the only decent dress she
owned, a slinky scarlet wraparound. It was shorter than she remembered, falling
to mid-thigh level. She'd bought it for a summer vacation in Greece a few years
back and it was not really warm enough for winter. She hoped the heating in the
restaurant where they ate would be good or she'd have to keep her coat on.
    The doorbell chimed. She hurried downstairs to let in Lisa,
the teenager from the village who was babysitting for the evening. The
sixteen-year-old's eyelashes were caked with mascara, her eyes outlined in
black, her lids blue and pink, her lips scarlet. She tottered in on high heels
wearing a skirt that barely covered her backside.
    Both Kelly and Lisa stared as Sean came down the stairs.
Kelly's heart fluttered like a moth trying to get to a flame. For a moment she
couldn't catch her breath. She was so used to being around Sean that she forgot
how gorgeous he was until she suddenly saw him wearing something different.
Tonight was the first time she'd seen him in a suit.
    The navy jacket hugged his broad shoulders, the white shirt
bringing out the blue of his eyes. He reached for his coat and draped the
snowman scarf around his neck, making her smile.
    "Hello, Mr. Fab." The teen giggled, striking a
pose and pushing out her chest.
    "The girls are both asleep," Sean said,