A Forever Family: Their Christmas Delivery. Kate Hardy

nice choice, Dr Farnham,’ she said when he showed her the box. ‘Tiramisu and cheesecake—there isn’t a more perfect combination.’

      He laughed. ‘Just don’t look at the nutritional label, OK?’

      ‘Would that be doctor’s orders?’ she teased.

      ‘It would.’ He smiled at her. ‘Go and sit down and carry on with whatever you were doing.’

      ‘Reading a gory crime novel.’

      ‘Go and sit down and I’ll make dinner.’

      She looked intrigued. ‘So is it going to be a cheese toastie or the famous spaghetti Bolognese?’

      ‘Wait and see.’

      Except it went disastrously wrong. Not only did he burn the sauce badly enough to ruin the meal, he actually set off the smoke alarm.

      And Hope took great exception to the smoke alarm. She even managed to drown it out with her screams.

      Amy walked into the kitchen, jiggling the screaming baby in an attempt to calm her. ‘Open the windows and flap a damp tea-towel underneath the smoke alarm,’ she said. ‘I set it off when I first moved in and my toaster decided not to pop the toast out again after it was done.’

      It didn’t make him feel any better, but he followed her instructions and eventually the smoke alarm stopped shrieking.

      Hope, on the other hand, took a fair bit longer to stop shrieking, and he’d completely run out of songs by the time Amy had warmed some milk and given the baby an unscheduled feed in an attempt to stop her screaming.

      ‘Sorry. I don’t think I’ve ruined your saucepan. But it’s a close-run thing.’ He grimaced. ‘And there’s no way I can serve up dinner.’

      But Amy didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. She just laughed. ‘These things happen. Stick the saucepan in water and we’ll soak it for a while. I’m sure it will have survived. And we’ll get a takeaway for dinner. Do you fancy Indian, Chinese or pizza?’

      ‘Pizza. And I’m buying, because dinner was supposed to be my treat tonight,’ he said ruefully.

      ‘We’ll go halves,’ she said, ‘and you do the washing up.’

      ‘Including the burned saucepan. Deal.’ He sighed. ‘It’s the last time I try to impress you,’ he grumbled.

      She kissed him. ‘Don’t try to impress me. Just be yourself.’

      Being himself instead of being who other people wanted him to be was what had led to a rift between himself and his family, and he was pretty sure it had also contributed a fair bit to the breakdown of his marriage.

      But then again, Amy wasn’t anything like Kelly or his family. Maybe it would be different with her. Maybe he’d be enough for her.

      He hoped.

      After the pizza—and after, to Josh’s relief, he’d managed to get her saucepan perfectly clean—they spent another evening of what really felt like domestic bliss. Amy switched on her stereo and played music by some gentle singer-songwriters that had Hope snoozing comfortably, while the two of them played cards for a while and then stretched out on the sofa together, spooned together with his arms wrapped round her waist and his cheek against hers.

      He couldn’t remember feeling this chilled-out and happy for a long, long time. They didn’t even need to talk: it was enough just to be together, relaxing and enjoying each other’s warmth.

      Later that evening, when Hope had had her last feed of the evening and they’d gone to bed, he found their goodnight kisses turning hotter, to the point where they were both uncovering bare skin.

      He stopped. ‘I don’t want to rush you.’

      Her skin heated. ‘Sorry. You’re right. We shouldn’t take this too fast.’

      Though he wanted to. And the expression in her gorgeous brown eyes told him that she might want to, too. He stroked her face. ‘I, um, bought stuff today in the supermarket. Just in case. Not because I expect it, but... Well. Later. When we’re both ready.’

      She kissed him. ‘We have kind of known each other for months.’

      ‘Just not very well,’ he added in fairness.

      Was it his imagination, or had her pupils just gone wider?

      ‘Maybe it’s time we remedied that.’

      He went very still. ‘Are you sure?’

      She kissed him. ‘Very sure. Because the way you make me feel...I haven’t felt that in a long, long time.’

      ‘Same here,’ he said.

      ‘Then maybe we ought to seize the day.’

      ‘Carpe diem,’ he agreed.

      He fetched the condoms, and checked that the baby was OK. And then there was nothing left to hold them back.