The Army Doctor's Wedding (10 page)

Olivia and the adoption officials
talked back and forth. Alice tried to listen but the words blurred into a
meaningless babble as Olivia fired questions.

A band of pain tightened around
Alice's chest. A numb coldness pervaded her body, her thoughts sluggish with fear.
She must think of something to say to persuade these people. They couldn't stop
her adopting Sami. She was his mum. He was her baby.

"We've already adopted
him," she blurted.

"We are aware of the foreign
adoption," Mrs. Sugden said. "It still needs to be ratified by a
British court to be legal in this country."

"You can't take my baby
away. I won't let you."

The cold emptiness inside Alice
filled with blistering angry heat. She would not let these heartless morons
take Sami. They didn't know her or Cameron. They hadn't even asked to see Sami
yet. They didn't care about him. All they cared about were their silly rules,
rules enforced in courts by men like her father.

Olivia rounded the table, stood
between her and Cameron, and rested her hands on their shoulders. "Keep
your cool," she said under her breath. Then louder, "My clients are
obviously very upset, Mrs. Sugden. You must understand that Alice rescued Sami
from a desperate situation. She saved Sami's life. Since then she has cared for
him as her own."

Mrs. Sugden inclined her head and
made a note on one of her forms.

"Let's set aside the
adoption process and consider the more immediate issue of fostering. Here you
have two responsible people with good family support who love this baby. I
suggest they are an ideal couple to foster Sami."

Mrs. Sugden glanced at her
assistant and nodded. "I see no reason why the baby can't remain with
Alice and Cameron for the moment while the adoption process continues. If Mr.
Knight leaves the army or can guarantee he will be based in the UK for three
years, they stand a good chance of keeping the child."

Mrs. Sugden asked a few more
questions. Alice struggled to pull her thoughts together to answer. A storm of
emotion wiped her mind, leaving nothing but a mass of exposed nerves. Finally,
the adoption officials gathered their things. Cameron rose and showed them to
the door.

Alice followed, blinking against
tears. If they tried to take Sami, she would leave the country. She'd go back
to Africa and live in the desert with him rather than let those people take him
away.

She watched as the social workers
climbed in their car and drove off.

Cameron pressed his fingers to
his temples, pain and frustration clear on his face. "I need to talk to
Dad. He'll know what to do."

"Shall I come?" Alice
reached for his arm. Right now she wanted to be with him and Sami, to cuddle up
together.

Cameron closed his eyes for a few
seconds. "No. You stay here, love. I might have to wait for Dad to get
home from work. It could make me late."

"I don't mind. I'd
rather…" she started, but he wasn't listening.

He hurried towards the kitchen,
returning a moment later with Olivia's car keys. With a perfunctory kiss on her
cheek, he stepped out the door, leaving Alice alone in the sudden silence. The
tears that had threatened leaked from her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.
She rushed almost blindly to the kitchen and bent over Sami's stroller,
pressing her face against his dear little body.

Olivia rested a supportive hand
on Alice's back. "It'll be all right. I'm on your side and Cameron's
parents are solid gold. When I was in trouble a few years ago, Sandra and
George stood by me and made sure I was okay. They will help you and Cameron
keep Sami. I'm sure of it."

***

Anger and frustration roiled in Cameron's gut. His fingers
clenched so hard on the steering wheel that his hands ached.

"Ignorant, self-important
do-gooders," he growled. Who were they to decide he wouldn't be a good
father for Sami? The two pen-pushers from the adoption agency had no right to
pass judgment on him because he chose to serve in the army and defend his
country and the freedoms those two took for granted.

They had no idea what life was
like out there where the rules they lived by didn't apply. He'd like to see
them running through the desert, being fired on by rebels, trying to save the
life of a baby. The baby they now wanted to take away from Alice.

Cameron blew out a breath and
consciously tried to relax, tensing and releasing his shoulders and shaking out
his hands one after the other. He would not let those people take away the son
he and Alice loved. There was always a way to sort things out. His father had a
knack for solving problems.

Cameron didn't make a habit of
calling on his parents for help. He had always felt they expected him to screw
up and need to be bailed out. So he purposely didn't tell them when he got into
trouble. But this time was different. This time it affected Sami and Alice.

His foot pressed on the accelerator
and the car shot forward from traffic lights, the tires squealing on the road.
Anger bubbled up anew as he recalled what Mrs. Sugden had said and the
self-righteous smile on her assistant's face as he nodded in agreement.

In what world was it fair for
people like that to take away his baby boy over some stupid arbitrary rule? He
understood they were trying to make sure adopted children settled into their
families, but the authorities should judge each case on its merits. With
something as important as adoption, it should never be a one-size-fits-all
rule.

Plenty of military wives had
babies who only saw their dads during leave. His situation with Sami was no
different than that.

He slowed to maneuver the car
through the narrow country lanes approaching his childhood home, Willow House,
and turned into the gateway. It was nearly six in the evening. His father's car
already stood in the drive. He must have just arrived home from work. Stopping,
Cameron grabbed the key and jumped out, eager to get inside.

Cameron burst through the front
door and hurried along the hall to the kitchen. "Mum, Dad, I need to talk
to you."

His mother turned from the
counter, an apron around her waist and flour on her fingers. She grabbed a tea
towel to wipe her hands, tossing it aside as she reached him. Then she pulled
him down into her arms and kissed his cheek. "Cameron, darling, what's the
matter? Is somebody hurt?"

"No, everyone's fine. Alice
and I had the adoption interview today. They won't let us adopt Sami if I'm
posted abroad."

She pulled back, an incredulous
look on her face. "Don't they realize you're in the army?"

"Yes, that's the point. They
know I'll be deployed overseas and it's against their rules."

"But military personnel have
no say in where they're posted."

"Exactly!"

"Oh, darling." His
mother pulled his face down to her shoulder and cupped the back of his head,
murmuring to him as though he were a little boy who'd bumped his knee. A fresh
burst of frustration at the unfairness of the situation brought tears to his
eyes. He swallowed hard and eased out of his mother's embrace to stride back
and forth across the room.

"I won't accept this. I
promised myself this time I would do the right thing. I won't let them take
Sami from Alice. I'll resign from the army and find a job in a civilian
hospital if that's what it takes to keep my son."

And he would. But at the thought
of leaving the army, something inside him withered. He specialized in
front-line trauma care. It was challenging, dangerous, and exhausting, but
battlefield medicine was what he did best. On his first deployment in
Afghanistan he'd discovered he thrived under extreme conditions. His
satisfaction when he saved the life of a soldier who might otherwise have died
was off the scale.

But he
would
give that up
for Alice and Sami if he had to.

"George, can you come down
here?" his mother shouted down the hall. A few minutes later his father's
footsteps sounded on the stairs and he hurried into the kitchen.

"What's the problem?"

"The adoption agency won't
let Alice and me adopt Sami because I'm in the army."

His father's expression
tightened, and his lips thinned.

Cameron repeated what had been
said in the interview earlier.

"I have never heard anything
so blatantly unfair or discriminatory against military families. This is
totally unacceptable. I'll make damn sure the Ministry of Defense kicks up a
stink about it."

"I suppose there's no chance
I can stay in the army and request not to be deployed abroad for three
years?" Cameron knew his father had power. He wasn't sure how far it went.

His father sat down and ran a
hand over his face. "I'd like to say yes but in truth, even I can't
guarantee that. We like to think we plan ahead, but we don't have a crystal
ball. If a military uprising or regional conflict threatens Western interests,
we have to respond. The medical corps are always needed. Anyway, I thought you
liked front-line assignments."

"I do."

"I don't," his mother
said. "I worry about you. I'm sure Alice will worry as well."

Cameron met his father's gaze and
they shared a moment of understanding, man to man. Cameron straightened his
spine. The fine balance between doing his duty to the best of his ability,
working to his strengths to serve his country, and also taking into account the
needs of his family was something new to Cameron. He'd been selfish in the
past, putting what he wanted ahead of other responsibilities.

That had been his problem when
Olivia gave birth to George. The promise of his exciting career took precedence
over his obligation to her. In the past six years, he had grown up. Now he understood
a man had to balance his responsibilities. Not an easy task.

"Compromise is the name of
the game," his father said softly.

"I tried to do the right
thing. Instead I've let Alice and Sami down."

Cameron pinched the bridge of his
nose and dropped into a seat. He'd thought that by marrying Alice he would help
a brave young woman adopt the baby she loved. Along the way he had fallen in
love with them both. They'd become the most important people in his life.

To think she might have been
better off without him ached like a punch in the stomach. The adoption agency
might well have approved her as a single mum. Of course he would never know,
but Alice must wonder.

His father rose and rested a hand
on his shoulder. "There will be a way around this, son. Don't do anything
rash like resign from the army. You and Alice hang in there. Give me some time
to think of options. I'll do my best for you."

Chapter Ten

Cameron put his arm around Alice as they walked into the
hospital, the handle of Sami's car seat in his other hand. She glanced up at
him as they headed to the elevator, but he didn't notice. He stood aside to let
her walk in first, then pushed the button for pediatrics. He was doing all the
right things but he wasn't really present with her.

On the drive to the hospital,
he'd barely said a word. Every time Alice tried to start a conversation about
the adoption, Cameron cut her off. "Let's get today over with first,"
he'd say.

It had been very late when he
returned from his parents' house the previous night, but she'd stayed awake,
waiting for him. He'd slipped into bed beside her with nothing but a brief
greeting. For the first time since they became lovers, he hadn't reached for
her.

She had wanted to snuggle up and
draw strength from him, share this worry and soothe each other. Isn't that what
being married was all about—sharing the problems as well as the joys? Instead
he had distanced himself from her.

"Here we are," he said,
squeezing her hand as the robotic voice announced their floor. They stepped out
into the now familiar corridor of the pediatric department with its colorful
walls and large animal pictures designed to make sick children who visited the
hospital feel more at home.

Cameron led the way into the
reception area and checked in with the nurse. "Lieutenant Colonel Fabian
will be right down," she said. "Take a seat for a few minutes,
please."

Alice sat and picked at the worn
edge of her plaster cast. "It will be so great to get this darned thing
off. I can't wait to hold Sami in both arms after the surgery."

Cameron placed a restraining hand
over her nervous fingers. "Don't worry, love. Sami will be fine. It's just
a routine procedure."

All the Knights had told her this
many times. She believed them, yet she still ached at the thought of her baby
boy suffering any pain or discomfort. But Sami's surgery wasn't what bothered
her most. It was the rest of his life, and where he would spend it that now
consumed her thoughts.

She was his mother. How could
anyone think of taking him away from her?

These same thoughts had circled
in her head all night. She wanted to call Mrs. Sugden and her sidekick and tell
them exactly what it had been like in the nomads' camp when the rebels had
attacked—the deafening gunfire, the swirling smoke, the reek of blood and other
horrible things, the gut-churning fear.

If they knew how terrified she
had been when she dashed back to the birthing tent, wrapped Sami and hid him
under her jacket, then ran for her life with the three women and their
children, all the time expecting a bullet in the back, maybe they would
understand how much Sami meant to her.

"Cameron, Alice. Good to see
you." Lieutenant Colonel Fabian strode towards them wearing green scrubs
that made his Mediterranean eyes appear more green than blue. "How's Sami
today?"

"He had a good night,"
Cameron said.

"He's only six weeks old and
he's already sleeping through the night." Alice couldn't resist boasting
about how good her baby was.

"I hope I'm as lucky with my
children." Sean grinned with obvious pride. "My wife is expecting
twins."

"Congratulations,
mate." Cameron shook his hand.

"Congratulations. That's
wonderful. I bet you're excited," Alice said, trying to pretend she could
chat like a normal mum who wasn't terrified the adoption agency would take her
baby away.

"Yes, it's certainly going
to be a new experience."

"Do you want us to bring
Sami through?" Cameron directed them back to the matter at hand.

"Yes, of course. This
way."

They followed Sean to a room with
a hospital bassinet. While Cameron signed some forms for Sean, a nurse entered
and lifted Sami from his carry seat into the crib. She removed his sleep suit
and vest, leaving him in his diaper. Then she covered him with clean hospital
bedding.

"There, he'll stay nice and
warm, don't you worry." She handed Sami's clothes to Alice. "You hold
on to those for me. He can have them back on when we're finished."

Cameron wrapped an arm around
Alice's waist. "Time to say good-bye to him for a little while."

Even though Alice had promised
herself she wouldn't cry, tears flooded her eyes as she leaned into the crib
and kissed Sami. "You be a good boy, sweetie. Mummy will be thinking of
you the whole time. I'll see you soon."

When she withdrew, Cameron bent
down and kissed Sami as well, running a gentle hand over his hair, a tell-tale
sheen to his eyes.

"You'll see him in a couple
of hours." Sean smiled kindly.

Cameron rested a hand on Alice's
back and guided her to the door. She glanced over her shoulder as they went out
to see the nurse wheeling a tray holding medical implements up to Sami's
bassinet.

Cameron firmly closed the door.

"What are they going to do
to him now?"

"He'll be given a sedative
to relax him, then they'll take him down to the OR."

Alice sucked on her lip, her
insides churning with many conflicting emotions. She wanted this for Sami,
wanted his lip to be repaired, but she couldn't help worrying. Yet she almost
welcomed the transient worry about the operation as it pushed aside her greater
concerns over the adoption.

"Let's take you down to have
your cast removed." Cameron took her hand and they stepped in the elevator
and went down a couple of floors. They checked in and within ten minutes Alice
was called into a room where a medical technician with a tool that resembled a
mini circular saw cut the plaster cast off her arm.

As it fell away, relief burst
through her to see her arm back to normal.

"Let me take a look."
Cameron lifted her arm and felt up and down the bones in the two places where
it had broken. "Straighten for me." He flexed her joints and then
smiled. "All looks good."

It was strange to remember
Cameron had set her bones before she knew him, when he was just a face behind a
clinical mask, a kind pair of brown eyes as she went under the anesthetic.

Wordlessly, she leaned into the
firm strength of his chest and encircled his waist with her arms. His arms
closed around her, his lips pressing against her temple. The medical technician
left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

For long moments they simply held
each other, reveling in the simple pleasure of being able to do so.

"Thank you," Alice
whispered.

"What for?" he said.

"Everything."

Cameron's chest expanded beneath
her cheek as he sucked in a breath. "I'm not sure I've done you much good.
I wanted to help, but marrying me probably made life more difficult. You might
have been able to adopt him as a single parent. Then you wouldn't have this
hassle with the adoption agency."

"I wouldn't have you,
either."

Cameron's arms tightened around
her. "Would that matter?"

"Of course." Alice
pulled back to see Cameron's face, surprised by the vulnerability in his eyes.

"I love you, Cam." And
she did, as much as she loved Sami. She didn't want to lose either of them. She
pulled his head down and kissed him, enjoying the freedom to touch his back and
hair with both hands.

Thank God she had joined the
charity and ended up in the desert. Thank God she had been injured. Otherwise
she wouldn't have Sami and Cameron in her life.

Cameron kissed her back, stroking
his fingers through her hair and pulling her close. "I love you too,
Alice. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure they let us adopt Sami, even if I
have to leave the army. I won't let you down."

"But the army's your
life." Anxiety pulsed through Alice. Cameron had lived and breathed army
medicine since he was a child. With his father and brother both army doctors,
it was in his blood. He thrived on working in the field hospital. He excelled
at it. She'd seen that firsthand.

From the start, she had known
he'd be deployed abroad much of the time. She accepted that. She wanted him to
be happy and fulfilled.

If he left the army and worked as
a doctor in the UK, they could live together as a family all the time and
satisfy the adoption authorities. But would he be happy? Would he always regret
losing the life he loved?

***

The chilly wind cut through Cameron's coat and jeans as he
walked out of the woodland into the field. He wrapped an arm around Sami, snug
against his chest in a baby carrier, and gripped Alice's gloved hand tighter.

The weekend of George's birthday
had been warm and sunny, but as September drew to a close, the weather had
turned. It seemed they had gone straight from summer to winter and missed out
on autumn.

The weather pattern matched his
mood. He'd arrived home happy and full of optimism for the future. Now a cold
chill of uncertainty hung over him. In less than a week his leave ended and he
must return to Africa. Yet the adoption process was far from resolved. Where
Sami was concerned, everything was uncertain.

"Hang on a moment, Cam. I
think Sami's dressing's caught on his hood."

Alice stood on her toes and
peered at the baby's face where it lay against his chest. Four days after
Sami's operation, he was healing nicely. Sean Fabian's stitching was a work of
art. Cameron had never seen the like and could never hope to match the
lieutenant colonel's skill.

Before they left for their walk
Cameron had cleaned the wound, applied antibiotic cream, and redressed it. The
only problem was the corner of the sticky tape holding the dressing in place
kept catching on things.

"I'll get it." Cameron
stroked a finger over his son's cheek and flattened the white tape.

Another blast of chilly wind made
Alice shudder and rub her hands together. She tugged the wooly hat Olivia had
loaned her farther down over her ears. "I'd forgotten how cold it gets
here."

"Come on, let's hurry and go
inside."

They strode along the worn path
across the grassy field towards Henford, the local village. The house they had
come to look at was at the edge of the village, the last one in a new
development.

The rental property sat on a
small, level plot with a square grass backyard. From here Cameron could see the
side of the place adjacent to the field.

They reached the hedge beside the
road and passed through the small gate at the end of the footpath.

Cameron turned to face the neat
two-story brick house with its shiny green front door and brass door knocker.
The place was modest in size, a kitchen/dinette, sitting room, and cloakroom
downstairs, and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. And it was theirs—or it
was for six months until Cameron had time to purchase a home for his family.

That's if the adoption agency
approved them and allowed Alice to have Sami. If not, she'd leave the country.
Then he didn't know where he'd call home, other than it would be wherever Alice
and Sami ended up.

Wrapping his arm around Alice's
shoulders, he pulled her close. She was so small and frail inside Olivia's big
fleecy coat. He wished she would eat more and put on weight. At twenty-six, she
could still pass for eighteen. Her slight build worried him and fired
protective instincts that had lain dormant until he met her.

"What do you think of the
place?" he asked.

"I like it." She
grinned up at him and a strange fluttery sensation filled his chest. He bent
and pressed his lips to hers quickly, making her laugh.

"It's only half a mile
across the field to Olivia and Radley's house, so you don't need a car,"
he said. "Although I think you should learn to drive."

She shrugged. "I didn't need
to when I lived in London."

"I know. But now you live in
the country you do need to. Olivia offered to teach you to drive, so don't let
her forget." Cameron wished he could teach her, but he wouldn't be back
again until Christmas.

He sucked in a breath of chilly
air and released it slowly. He loved his job. From the moment he'd qualified as
a doctor and completed his officer's training at the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst, he had wanted to be posted abroad; the more dangerous the location,
the better. He loved the challenge and had always been eager to get back to
work after his leave. This was the first time he'd be reluctant to go.

He wished he could stay with
Alice and Sami. Radley was lucky his specialty allowed him to be posted to the
UK. Wounded service personnel from all over the world were brought to him.

Cameron's specialty could only be
practiced on the front line. The nearest alternative was a civilian hospital
emergency room. That would be tame in comparison. The army was in his blood. He
wanted to save the lives of soldiers, not patch up brawling drunks and soccer
hooligans.

Alice pulled a shiny key from her
pocket and held it up. "Shall we go inside?"

"Sounds like a plan."
He flashed a smile as she pushed the key in the lock and turned. The smell of
fresh paint greeted them inside. Although tiny, the place was clean and new.

Alice wandered around, running
her fingers along the mantel over the gas fireplace and touching the floral
curtains. "When is your furniture arriving?"

"In three days." He'd
moved heaven and earth to find a carrier who would ship the stuff from his army
lodgings in time for him to move in here with Alice before he had to leave.

She wandered through to the
kitchen. Following, he watched her open cupboards and check the controls on the
oven.

"I can imagine you here with
Sami." She'd stand Sami's seat on the kitchen counter so he could see out
the window while she prepared his bottle.