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Ginny gritted her teeth as she grabbed the backs of her thighs with her hands. ‘It so… bloody… hard,’ she grunted.

‘I know, I know,’ Sebastian urged. ‘Keep panting. You’re doing really well.’

Callie glanced at Sebastian. His eyes were downcast as he spoke to Ginny. Her head was tucked in under his chin and somehow, even with her enormous belly on display, she seemed tiny surrounded by him. His reassuring words, his solid presence and supreme calmness was utterly sexy.

He looked like he helped labouring women every day. At the moment he looked like he could leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Was this how he would be with her? When she went into labour?

He chose that moment to glance at her and Callie swallowed at the steadfastness of his clear green unwavering gaze. He’d looked at her a thousand times. At home, at work, at play. Had stared straight into her eyes, nose to nose when they’d been joined as intimately as two people could possibly be joined. But she’d never felt it reach right down inside her.

Not like right now. Not like this.

It was a gaze that was sure and gentle at the same time. It projected possession and truth. It was a gaze that told her he wasn’t going anywhere. And he had all the time in the world.

Oh, help.

Ginny sagged against Sebastian as the contraction passed, drawing Callie’s attention back to the situation at hand. She looked down, knowing as if she’d been a midwife for the last twenty years, that the head would deliver with the next one.

This baby wanted out.

‘She’s coming, isn’t she?’ Ginny asked.

Callie looked up, trading a glance with Sebastian. Ginny’s mood was all over the place at the moment. How would she react to the news? She wanted Ginny focused for the hardest part – not hysterical. He gave her an imperceptible nod and she didn’t even question that he was on the same page as her.

She shifted her gaze slightly to Ginny and smiled. ‘Yes, I think you’re going to see your daughter very soon.’

Ginny nodded, twin tears trickled down her face as she choked on a sob. ‘Brad’s going to miss it. He so wanted to see his little girl come into the world. I wanted him to be the first face she saw. Fathers miss out on so much and I want her to know right from the get-go how much her daddy loves her.’ She stopped for a moment, more tears threatening to spill. ‘He wanted to cut the cord. We wrote that on our birth plan.’

Callie swallowed, touched by the longing in Ginny’s husky voice. In the middle of everything, intense pain and overwhelming emotion, Ginny was thinking about her husband. About her baby.

So, that was love.

‘He might still make it,’ Sebastian said gently. ‘He wasn’t that far away when I phoned him.’

‘I hope so,’ Ginny sniffled. ‘He’ll be devastated that he wasn’t here for it.’

‘Trust me,’ Sebastian said. ‘He’ll just be pleased you and the baby are okay and that you’ve been in good hands.’

Ginny nodded. ‘That’s true. Imagine if you guys hadn’t been here…’Ginny shivered. ‘I would have been here all alone and… the baby… What if⁠—’

‘But we are here,’ Callie interrupted. Ginny’s eyes had grown wider and her voice had picked up speed. There was no point in letting Ginny get carried away with what-ifs when they were pointless and she needed to be calm and stay focused. ‘And everything is going to be fine.’

Ginny gave a strained smile. ‘I know. I know. I can’t thank you enough.’ She twisted her head round to look at Sebastian. ‘You too, Seb.’

Sebastian grinned. ‘Pleased to be of assistance.’

Ginny’s return smile died almost before it even started. ‘Oh, no.’

‘Another one?’ Sebastian asked.

Ginny nodded, turning back to face Callie. She grabbed Callie’s gloved hand. ‘Please tell me again that this is going to be fine.’

Callie gripped Ginny’s hand hard throwing a silent prayer into the universe. ‘It. Will. Be. Fine.’ She let go of the hand. ‘Now, let’s meet this little girl who’s in such a hurry.’

Ginny’s face screwed up as the contraction intensified. ‘Oh, God,’ she groaned, grasping the backs of her thighs.

The wail of a distant ambulance siren penetrated the intense little circle. ‘Hear that?’ Sebastian said. ‘The cavalry are almost here.’