The Surgeon's One-Night Baby

‘Here’s to you, Dad,’ she whispered. ‘I finally got everything I ever dreamed of.’

Peace flowed through her. Her life was so very different from the last time she’d tried this and it was all thanks to Kaspar, and Darius and baby Yasmin. She felt more complete than she had ever imagined possible.

For what felt like an eternity she simply drank it in.

Without warning, a figure dropped in front of her, arms and legs outstretched to slow their fall but, without an open chute, they were still dropping considerably faster than her. He might be too far away to impede her jump but she didn’t need to see his face to know who it was.

Kaspar.

And, by his thumbs-up gestures, he was clearly taking her challenge seriously. Her stomach knotted with a kind of anticipation, a thrill, then he was gone, his legs straightening back and his arms pinned to his sides as he tipped his body to dive lower.

But he knew what he was doing and Archie knew he would be safe. The adrenalin junkie at his extreme was long gone. Replaced instead by a fun-loving, proud husband and father, although still—always—her Surgeon Prince of Persia.

Archie laughed into the silence. A rich, happy sound. Then she let the wind carry her gently down to earth.

She should have known that Kaspar would beat her. By the time she’d gathered up her parachute and made her way across the field, he was already heading back with a feverishly clapping three-year-old on his shoulders and a one-year-old glued to his chest.

‘Wow, Mummy.’ The awestruck voice carried easily with its childish lilt. ‘It was good? Yes or no?’

‘Yes, baby. It was very good. But being back here with you is even better.’

And it was true. Her little family was perfect. Everything she could have ever dreamed of having.

Her past, her present and her future, all rolled into one.

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