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‘Five thousand, huh?’ he said rubbing at his jaw. ‘Now, that’s totally spooky.’
Her eyes widened. ‘It is?’
‘Yep,’ he said. ‘I made this promise to Madeleine Brothers that if I dated another woman in the next six months I would donate five thousand dollars to the hospital research foundation.’
Georgie’s eyes went even wider. ‘I made the same promise to Rhiannon! Oh, my gosh, maybe Madame Celestia is the real deal after all.’
‘You’re surely not serious, sweetheart?’ he asked with a tender look. ‘You told me you didn’t believe in all that stuff.’
She gave herself a mental shake and smiled up at him blissfully. ‘The only thing I’m serious about is you, even if you’re not blond.’
His eyes started to twinkle. ‘Uh-oh.’
‘Uh-oh here comes another uh-oh,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘What do you mean uh-oh?’
He released her for a moment to retrieve a family photograph sitting on his desk. He handed it to her without speaking.
Georgie looked down at the slightly faded photograph of a tall, dark-haired man who looked exactly like Ben, a petite woman who resembled Hannah standing by his side with a little baby boy with blond hair cradled in her arms.
Georgie looked up at Ben, a smile slowly spreading across her face. ‘You were blond!’ she said.
He grinned back at her. ‘Yes, but only until I was six months old.’
She nestled closer to him again, her eyes shining with delight. ‘So does this mean that any babies we have in the future will be the same?’ she asked.
He pressed a kiss to the end of her uptilted nose. ‘I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,’ he said, and smiled.
EPILOGUE
‘SO how’s the morning sickness going?’ Rhiannon asked as Georgie sank into Rhiannon’s leather sofa.
It had been a trying day, but had ended in joy. Not only were Georgie’s final exams over but Emma Stanley had returned to the hospital with baskets of chocolates for the staff to announce that she had qualified for the national athletics squad. She had recovered from Ben’s surgery with minimal neurological deficit, and had been able to start training again within a couple of months. After four years at the Institute of sport, her career now looked promising, her dreams and hopes restored.
‘I’m feeling a bit better now my fellowship exams are over,’ Georgie answered. ‘What a relief. Now I can concentrate on being barefoot and pregnant for a while. Ben’s been so good about holding off starting a family until I got my exams finished. My dad thinks he’s wonderful for being so patient and supportive.’
‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that,’ Rhiannon said. ‘I thought it was going to be daggers drawn at dawn between them for the rest of your married life.’
Georgie smiled as she recalled Ben’s first awkward visit to her parents’ home and how it had taken a few months to melt the ice. ‘I can’t believe how well they get on these days,’ she said. ‘Dad told Ben he always knew he was going to be a brilliant neurosurgeon but he felt Ben needed to sharpen his focus a little. It took a while for him to admit it but now Ben agrees with him. It was failing that exam that made him really hone his skills so that he would never doubt his ability in a crisis.’
‘And, of course, your mum thinks her son-in-law is not only an extremely gifted neurosurgeon but the most romantic, gorgeous husband in the world,’ Rhiannon commented.
Georgie smiled again and, placing her hand on her slightly rounded abdomen, moved it around in a gentle stroking motion. ‘Mum’s so excited about the baby,’ she said. ‘She’s been knitting for four years in anticipation of this event and Hannah is already choosing names and laying bets on which one we’ll use. We’re down to her short list but it will be touch and go on who wins in the end.’
‘Do you want to know the sex?’ Rhiannon asked hopefully. ‘I can always get Madame Celestia to do a prenatal reading for you.’
Georgie shook her head. ‘I think I’ll wait until our ultrasound tomorrow,’ she said with another dreamy smile. ‘I just love surprises.’
The next morning Ben and Georgie looked at the screen showing them the tiny heartbeat of their baby.
‘Uh-oh,’ they said in unison.
‘That’s not one baby,’ the sonographer said somewhat unnecessarily. ‘That’s two. Congratulations. You’re having twins.’
Ben and Georgie just looked at each other and smiled.
