Midwives On Call: From Babies To Bride

‘My father was an alcoholic. He resented having to raise kids on his own and he blamed Nathan for causing Mum’s death. He was a bully and he got really nasty when he was drinking, which was pretty much every day.’

The horror of that childhood was written all over Sophia’s face. He could see it that way himself now, with the benefit of hindsight but, at the time, it had just been how things were.

‘I knew how to handle him. I learned how to keep Nate safe. But that day? I was sixteen and I’d had enough. Instead of trying to defuse him, I flipped the coin. I started yelling at him and telling him just what a miserable bastard he was. I knew I had to get out of the house before I attacked him physically and I’d almost made it to the front door.’ He had to stop for a second. To swallow past the constriction in his throat. ‘He came after me but Nate was trying to follow me, too, and he was at the top of the stairs. Dad pushed him to get past and he fell.’

‘You saw it happen?’ Sophia’s words were raw. Had she even thought before she reached out and covered his hand with her own? The warmth and pressure of that human contact almost undid Aiden but he couldn’t pull his hand away. Instead, he turned it over and threaded his fingers through hers to lock them together.

‘That wasn’t the worst of it. I didn’t know how badly hurt Nate was but I knew not to let him move before the ambulance could get there. So I held his head and kept him still and told him that everything would be okay. And then … and then …’

He could feel the tension in her hand. The terrible anticipation.

‘And then we heard it. I didn’t even know he had a gun in the house. Just as well, maybe, given how much I hated him that day. But I never had to think about killing him again. He did it himself.’

He choked on those last words. He’d never told anybody this story. Ever. Something was breaking inside his chest. Making him shake. Forcing a kind of horrible, dry sobbing sound to come out of his throat. He had his eyes screwed tightly shut so he didn’t see Sophia standing up but he felt the tug on his hand and it was easy to comply with the silent instruction because he had no idea of what to do. How to deal with this awful emotional tidal wave.

How did Sophia know what to do?

She was tiny but he could feel an enormous strength in the way she wrapped her arms around him and held him so tightly. He had no idea how long they stood there like that but it was long enough for the wave to recede. And now it felt like a huge expanse of sand that had been washed clean.

Deserted. And amazingly peaceful.

He loosened the grip of his arms around Sophia. How had she managed to keep breathing for so long?

‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you.’

‘I’m glad you did.’ She moved a little in his arms so that she could look up at him. ‘And, Aiden?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I was right.’

‘What about?’

‘It wasn’t your fault. Not one bit of it.’

The anger was gone but he could still feel disappointed. Sophia was taking Nathan’s side. Was there nobody out there who could understand? See the truth the way he saw it? He stepped back. Could he make some excuse and simply leave?

No. One look at Sophia and he was caught.

‘I know why you think that,’ she said. ‘And when you love someone, it’s easy to find a way to take the blame when something bad happens to them, but this wasn’t your fault. It was your father’s fault.’

‘I provoked him.’

‘And how many times did you not provoke him? You’d been living with that for ten years. You’d found every way under the sun to keep your little brother safe. Confronting your father and escaping would have been the only way to make sure of that in the long run and I think you’d finally got old enough to know that, even if it was subconscious. Okay, it went horribly wrong but it was a brave thing to do. How old were you?’

‘Sixteen.’ Aiden could barely get the word out. He was trying to process what she was saying. Was there any truth in it?

He’d been brave?

No way …

‘There you go.’ Sophia’s smile was heartbreakingly tender. ‘Just a kid yourself.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘Was that when you decided you wanted to be a paramedic?’

‘Yeah … They were amazing. I think they looked after me just as much as they looked after Nate. It’s something I have in the back of my mind with every job I go to. It’s not just the person who’s sick or hurt that’s your patient. The people who love them are too.’

‘And that’s part of what makes you so good at your job. No wonder Nate wants to hear your stories.’

That was how this had all started, wasn’t it. Aiden jerked his gaze to the table. To the half-eaten meals of that delicious food Sophia had prepared.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said again. ‘I kind of ruined dinner, didn’t I?’

‘It was my fault,’ Sophia said. ‘I asked the questions that got you started.’

‘I didn’t have to tell you. I chose to. Because I wanted to.’

The look he was receiving could only have come from a woman.

‘Mmm … okay. I accept that it wasn’t my fault.’

In the heartbeat of silence that followed, Aiden made the connection. And found himself smiling, albeit reluctantly.

‘How ’bout I zap those plates in the microwave? You still hungry?’

He couldn’t look away from her eyes. He was drowning again but this time it came with a lick of fire that would evaporate any moisture.

‘Oh, yeah … I’m hungry.’

He caught her hand as she turned towards the table.

‘But not for food.’

She gave a tiny gasp as he pulled her into his arms and bent his head to taste her lips. And then she melted against him and he knew, with absolute certainty, that things were going to be all right. He didn’t have to leave. Didn’t want to.

Things were going to be better than all right, in fact.

Life itself seemed to have just become that much better.

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