The Army Doctor's Baby (Romance Novella) Read Online Free

fine. You sleep. I'll be around if you want me. Just call."
    "Okay." Her eyelashes drifted closed again. He took another moment to watch her before turning away.
    He ran upstairs to his room and fished his mobile phone out of his bag. It still had a little charge left—enough to make one call, anyway. He sat on the edge of his bed and scrolled through his contacts to his brother's number and dialed. His brother was stationed in Germany, only one hour ahead of the UK.
    As the phone rang, he stared out the window, down the garden to the pond where he'd found Olivia watching the ducks. He'd expected to get voice mail but his brother picked up.
    "Hey, Rad, are you home?"
    "I'm sitting on my bed, appreciating the silence."
    "I suppose it's good to see the old place again. I should come home, but I can't wait to be stationed somewhere more exciting. It's all routine stuff in Germany."
    Radley remembered thinking the same when he was first qualified and fresh out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst with his captain's pips. He had longed to be sent to a war zone where he could get more experience. He'd come down to earth with a bump when the first injured servicemen had arrived on his operating table. He'd always wanted to be a surgeon, but there was something soul-destroying about seeing men, day after day, who'd been harmed on purpose.
    "Do you know where you're going?" he asked.
    "No, only that I'll ship out after Christmas."
    "You've got enough time to come home for a weekend then."
    "Not really."
    "I managed to get home occasionally when I was stationed in Germany. You need to make the effort. Mum must have told you Olivia and her baby are staying here."
    Silence greeted his comment.
    "Come on, Cam. You need to deal with this."
    "I don't see how the baby's mine. We always used protection."
    "News flash, mate, condoms aren't infallible."
    Cameron's sigh hissed through the phone. "I'm still not convinced. You were the one who told me not to get suckered."
    "That was before I met Olivia." Radley pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd known this would be a difficult conversation. "If she says George is yours, I believe her."
    "She named the baby after Dad?"
    "Yes."
    More silence.
    "Come home and see them. Olivia's had a tough time. It would do her good to know you care enough to visit your son. I guarantee that once you hold the little guy, you'll feel differently about this."
    Cameron heaved another sigh. "You're sure he's mine?"
    "He looks like you. Mum thinks so, and I guess Dad does too or Olivia wouldn't be here."
    Another frustrated sigh.
    "So, you'll come?"
    "I guess."
    "Don't wait too long. George gets bigger every day."
    "This stinks. I'm too young to have a kid. I've got plans."
    "Olivia has plans as well. She's had to adapt. You can too."
    Cameron grunted in response.
    "Call Olivia and tell her when you're coming."
    "Maybe. See you, man."
    Radley flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Had he done the right thing? What would Olivia's reaction be when Cameron contacted her? A sense of regret washed through him, and he pushed it away. It was best for George to have his father in his life. It would also help Olivia to feel that she belonged in the family. Yet part of him wished he hadn't called his brother.
    ***
    "We're going for a ride in my car. That'll be fun, won't it?" Radley jangled his keys over the baby in his arms to attract his gaze. George's arms and legs waved like crazy and he made the grunting sound that signaled he was excited.
    If Radley had known beforehand that he would spend most of his time watching out for a mother and newborn when he arrived home on leave, he might have stayed away. But he was enjoying his time with Olivia and George. He didn't even mind that his mother had a couple of weeks working full time to cover for a sick colleague, which meant that for the last week, Radley had been pretty much tied to the house all day.
    At some point he needed to go house hunting for his own