The Greek Doctor's New-Year Baby

He understood exactly how she felt. Madison had managed to reassure him—now it was his turn to reassure her. ‘Whatever the results show, Maddie, it won’t change how I feel about you.’ He came to join her on the sofa, taking both her hands in his. ‘If we’re lucky and the results are fine, we’re going to celebrate.’

‘And if they’re not fine?’ Her voice was a cracked whisper.

‘Then we have a lot of talking to do. Decisions to make.’ Very difficult decisions. ‘But believe me when I tell you that I love you—and, whatever happens, we’re going to get through this. Together.’

Theo slept badly that night, lying awake next to Madison and wishing that he had some kind of magic wand to make everything all right. It took every ounce of effort to concentrate on his clinic the next morning; and when he’d finished, he went to find Madison.

‘Any news?’ he asked.

She shook her head.

‘Right. Come with me.’ He shepherded her into his office.

‘Theo, you can’t!’

‘I’m not touching my computer.’ He tapped the number of the laboratory into his phone. ‘I’m talking to the boffins.’

She cut the connection. ‘Theo, they won’t tell you. You’re not my consultant.’

‘No.’ He felt his shoulders sag. ‘Maddie, this is driving me crazy.’

‘I’ll talk to them,’ she said softly. ‘We shouldn’t really be doing this. We’re going behind Joe’s back.’

‘Joe is in a delivery room.’ He’d already checked on the consultant’s whereabouts. ‘We can’t exactly haul him out to ask if he’s got the results back. So this is the more professional way of doing it.’

She sighed. ‘Give me the phone. I’ll do it.’

He sat down, scooped her onto his lap and let her take the phone. She hit the redial button, connected to the lab and asked about her results.

And Theo wished he’d been thinking straight enough to ask her to put the phone on speaker mode rather than use the handset. He was going crazy, waiting to find out what was going on.

‘OK,’ Madison said. Her breath hitched. ‘Thank you.’

And then she put the phone down and burst into tears.

Oh, hell. Clearly it was bad news. He wrapped his arms round her, holding her tightly. ‘Agapi mou, it will be all right. I’m here. I love you. And we’ll get through this. We’ll talk it through and we’ll make the right decision for us.’

She was still shaking. ‘Not bad news,’ she mumbled against his chest. ‘Not bad.’

‘What?’ He didn’t understand.

‘It’s fine.’

‘When you’re crying your eyes out, kardoula mou?’

‘I’m crying with relief,’ she explained, her voice shaky. ‘The tests are fine. And we’re…Oh, Theo. We’re going to have a little girl.’

He held her even more tightly. ‘A little girl. Just like her beautiful mother.’

‘With her daddy’s gorgeous smile.’

Tears were still running down Madison’s face. He wiped them away with the pad of his thumb, and kissed her gently. ‘We’re going out to lunch to celebrate.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘And I think the quickest way to tell everyone is to text them.’

‘I’ll page Kat—she won’t have her mobile phone switched on,’ Madison said. ‘I can’t believe we’ve been so lucky.’

‘And we’re going to get luckier still,’ he promised.

The following day, it seemed his words had been prophetic. Theo went home via the florist’s.

‘Celebrating our news from yesterday?’ Madison asked, after kissing him thank you for the two dozen pink roses.

‘No. Celebrating our news from today.’

She tipped her head slightly to one side. ‘What news?’

He picked her up and whirled her round. ‘I got the job. As from Monday, I’m officially the senior consultant.’

‘Theo, that’s wonderful!’

‘So I’m taking you out to dinner tonight to celebrate.’ He smiled. ‘I’m doing drinks and a curry for the team on Friday—which obviously includes you, agapi mou—but tonight I want to celebrate just with my wife-to-be.’ He stroked her abdomen. ‘And our daughter.’ And then as he felt a flutter against his fingertips, he had to sit down. ‘Maddie. She just kicked me.’

‘You felt it, too? I felt a fluttering last week, as if someone was blowing bubbles inside me, but I thought it was my imagination.’

‘No. And I didn’t think you could feel a baby kick this early. But she definitely responded.’ He pressed his face against Madison’s abdomen. ‘I love you,’ he whispered. ‘S’agapi, kardoula mou.’