Free Valentino's Pregnancy Bombshell by Amy Andrews

start.’
    Paige rose and moved to the other side of the table. McKenzie, engrossed in her puzzle, didn’t even notice.
    Valentino clicked the mouse a couple of times. ‘It’s on. Why don’t you try calling her?’
    For a few seconds Paige wasn’t capable of speech. Of anything. She’d been looking forward to this moment for the last two years and now it was here she was totally overwhelmed. Just like that. One click and a whole new world for McKenzie. It seemed like such an anticlimax. Surely it should at least be heralded by trumpets. Or angels?
    A swell of emotion rose in her throat and stuck there, her heart beat like an epileptic metronome, her lungs couldn’t drag air in and out fast enough.
    â€˜It’s okay, Paige,’ Val murmured as he watched her emotional struggle. ‘Take your time.’
    Paige glanced at him. He was smiling at her encouragingly and she swallowed hard. He was obviously well used to the raw emotion of the moment.
    â€˜M-McKenzie.’ Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. ‘McKenzie, darling, can you hear me?’
    McKenzie played on, blissfully ignorant to sound or to her mother’s turmoil. Paige flicked her gaze to Valentino.
    â€˜It’s okay,’ he said. ‘Keep on going. I’ll keep adjusting it louder.’
    A part of Paige was desperate to gesture to McKenzie, gain her attention. This was the biggest test of both of their lives and Paige couldn’t believe how much she wanted her daughter to pass. But pre-empting the process by letting McKenzie know she was speaking to her was pointless—they were after an uncoached reaction.
    â€˜McKenzie? I love that puzzle you’re doing, sweetie. It’s just like that one we have at home with the koalas, isn’t it?’
    The silence in the room reached a screeching crescendo. She raised her eyes to Valentino, her heart beating so loudly now in the utter silence she thought it might explode out of her chest. ‘Nothing.’
    The air of helplessness in the word was heartbreaking and surprisingly Val felt Paige’s anguish deep in his gut. When had this little girl and her mother become so personal?
    He shot her his most comforting smile. ‘The telemetry is telling me her nerves are being stimulated. Youknow sometimes it can take a few weeks for kids to recognise any useful sound.’
    Paige nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. She did know. But still she felt gutted.
    â€˜I’m going to try clapping.’
    â€˜Okay.’ Paige tried to keep the dejection out of her voice and failed.
    Valentino gave three loud claps. Paige watched as her daughter startled and swiftly turned her head in the direction of the offending noise. She gasped as tears rushed to her eyes.
    She’d heard! McKenzie had really heard.
    After three years of living in a world where no noise existed, McKenzie could actually hear.
    If someone had asked Paige to describe the emotion threatening to suffocate every cell in her body she wouldn’t have been able to. She was totally overwhelmed. It was a miracle.
    A miracle!
    Valentino grinned at McKenzie. ‘Hello. Did you hear that?’ he signed, and clapped again. ‘Clapping,’ he said, and did it once more.
    McKenzie swivelled her head to look at her mother. The expression on her face was one of pure wonderment. She pointed to Valentino and clapped.
    Paige laughed through her tears, dashing them away with the backs of her hands. Her daughter looked like she’d just invented clapping. Like she was the only person on earth who could hear! And Paige knew exactly how she felt.
    â€˜Well, I think that was fairly definite, yes?’ Valentino smiled.
    Paige nodded wildly, even though her face was threatening to crumple. Her deaf daughter could hear. It was simply the most amazing thing she’d ever witnessed. Even though she’d been present through so many activations in her two years with