The Midwife's Marriage Proposal (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 3)

Lucy screwed up her face and pushed again. Sally delivered the shoulders and finally the baby shot into her arms, yelling and bawling.

‘Brilliant, Lucy! You clever girl!’ Sally’s eyes filled and she quickly blinked back the tears. ‘You have a little boy.’

Tom immediately cleared the baby’s airway and together they clamped the cord and then placed the child against Lucy’s breast, wrapping mother and child up together.

Lucy gave a sob of disbelief. ‘Is he all right?’

‘He seems fine, but obviously we need to keep him warm and get him to hospital as fast as possible. As soon as your placenta is delivered and you’re able to move, we’re going to load you into that helicopter.’

Sally slid a hand over the top of Lucy’s uterus, checking that it was contracting, and moments later the placenta was delivered.

She examined it closely and looked at Tom. ‘It seems intact to me, but we need to take it to the hospital with us.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll talk to the helicopter crew about how we’re going to do this.’

Satisfied that Lucy’s uterus was contracting nicely and that she didn’t seem to be losing more blood than was normal, Sally turned her attention to the baby, showing Lucy how to latch him onto the breast.

‘Feeding will help your uterus contract and it will warm the baby up,’ she explained, smiling as the little boy clamped his jaws around the nipple and started to suck. ‘No problems there. He obviously has a natural ability. I told you he was a boy!’

Lucy looked at her, tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t thank you enough. You were amazing.’

‘It was wonderful,’ Sally said honestly, glancing over her shoulder as Tom stuck his head into the tent. ‘Are we ready? The baby’s feeding.’

‘Great.’ He smiled at Lucy. ‘When you’re ready to move we’ll get you to the helicopter and take you to hospital. It’s a very short hop.’

* * *

Tom stood in the doorway of the side ward, watching as Sally helped Lucy latch the baby onto the breast.

‘He really is a natural,’ she murmured, a satisfied smile on her face as the baby started to suck. ‘And now you’re both safe and sound.’

She was still dressed in her mountain rescue gear, her fair hair tangled from the wind and the drama, her cheeks flushed from the warmth of the room.

Tom felt something shift inside him.

She’d been fantastic.

She’d treated every moment of what could have been an obstetric nightmare as if it had been totally normal and wonderfully exciting. As if she’d delivered hundreds of babies outside on a freezing March day.

And she’d been in control every inch of the way.

She’d been the one to give him instructions, acting quickly and competently as soon as she’d realized that the baby had been coming.

He was more than impressed. He was amazed.

At that moment Lucy glanced up and saw him. ‘Mr Hunter!’

‘You look comfortable.’ He walked into the room and Lucy smiled down at the nursing baby.

‘I am comfortable. And relieved. Thank you so much, both of you.’

Tom smiled. ‘I’d like to say that it’s all in a day’s work, but I’d be lying.’ He ran a hand over the back of his neck and let out a breath. ‘Next time go for a walk in a town. And make it a short one.’

Lucy chuckled. ‘I’ll try and remember that.’

Sally stood up. ‘I’d better go and get changed. You did well, Lucy.’ Impulsively she leaned forward and hugged the young mother, and Lucy hugged her back.

‘Thank you just doesn’t cover it.’