Page 47 of Best Laid Plans

In the doorway he paused, unwilling to intrude. The baby was on the bed, little arms waving, legs pumping as she laughed and giggled and Lucy was leaning over her.

Will couldn’t see Lucy’s face, but he could hear her soft, playful chatter. It was such a touching and intimate exchange. A painful brick lodged in his throat.

Lucy was laughing. ‘Who’s the cutest little baby girl in the whole, wide world?’

Mia responded with loud chuckles and coos.

‘Who’s the loveliest roly-poly girl? Who’s so chubby and sweet I could gobble her up?’

Will felt a twist in his heart as he watched Lucy kiss the waving pink toes, watched her gently and deftly apply lotion to the petal soft skin, then refasten a clean nappy.

Aware that he was spying, he stepped back, preparing to make a discreet departure, but just at that moment, a choked cry broke from Lucy and she seemed to fold in the middle, like a sapling lashed by a storm.

She sank to her knees beside the bed.

‘Lucy.’

He didn’t want to startle her, but her name burst from him.

Her head jerked up and she turned and her face was white and wet with tears. She looked at Will with haunted eyes and then she looked at the baby and she tried to swipe at her tears, but her emotions were too raw. Her mouth crumpled and she sent Will a look of hopeless despair.

In a heartbeat, he was in the room, dropping to his knees beside her. He pulled her into his arms and he held her as she trembled and clung to him, burying her face, warm and wet with tears, against his neck.

It was then that he knew.

He knew how deeply she longed for a child.

He knew how very much he wanted to help her.

Most of all, he knew that Lucy’s need was greater than her fear.

‘We can try again if you like,’ he whispered close to her ear. ‘Lucy, why don’t you try again?’

‘Yes,’ she sobbed against his shoulder. ‘I think I have to. Please, yes.’

His arms tightened around her.

IN A FEW MINUTES, Lucy was calmer. She stood and went to the bathroom to wash her face while Will held Mia.

It was quite something the way his little niece snuggled into him, with her head tucked against his chest and one chubby starfish hand clutching at the fabric of his shirt.

Will tried to imagine a son or daughter of his own. A tiny person like this. Mia smelled amazing. She smelled… pink.

Yes, if pale pink was a fragrance, he was sure it would smell like this baby. Warm and fuzzy and incredibly appealing.

The baby was wearing the gold bracelet he’d bought for her christening – a little chain with a heart shaped locket – and it almost disappeared into the roly-poly folds of her wrist. Her skin was so soft. Peach soft.

No, softer than a peach.

Wow. No wonder fathers wanted to protect their daughters.

‘Oh, gosh, Will, that baby really suits you,’ Lucy said, almost smiling as she came back into the room.

‘Not as well as she suits you.’

He handed the tiny bundle back to Lucy and she buried her nose in Mia’s hair. ‘I’d bottle this smell if I could.’

Turning, she checked her appearance in the mirror above the dressing table. ‘I just need a minute to compose myself. It’s a pity I don’t have my makeup with me.’

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