The Army Doctor's Wedding (13 page)

He lowered his head and kissed
her gently, enjoying the taste and feel of her soft mouth under his. Then he
trailed his lips down her throat to the smooth skin of her shoulder. Her floral
fragrance stoked the fire inside him, a fire he had tamped down and tried to
forget while he was away. Now it roared nearly out of control as he slid his
hands over his wife's delicate back and pulled her tightly against him.

Thank heavens for a home posting.
He didn't want to be away from her again. Ever.

***

Cameron strode along St. James's Street towards Piccadilly,
his father at his side. The streetlights cast bright streaks across the wet
road. A black cab passed, followed by a red double-decker bus with a gruesome
advertisement for the London Dungeon on the side.

He tapped a large manila envelope
against his thigh as they waited to cross the road.

"You're sure this will
work?" he asked.

"Absolutely," his
father said.

They approached the neoclassical
facade of the front of the club they were heading for and entered through a
discreet black door.

The doorman met them. "Good
evening, Major General Knight. It's a pleasure to see you, sir."

His father removed his hat and
wedged it beneath his arm. Cameron followed suit. They had decided to wear
their uniforms, anything to give them an edge.

"Can you tell me where Sir
Alistair Conway is?" Cameron's father asked.

"I believe you'll find him
in the library, sir."

"Thank you."

Cameron rarely entered the
stuffy, old-fashioned club. His father spent time here every week, in the
bastion of male power, networking. It meant on occasions like this, he had the
contacts to get what he wanted.

They strode along the Victorian
oak-paneled corridor to the hushed domain of politicians and civil servants.
Groups of men dotted the room, seated in green leather chairs, relaxing with
glasses of whiskey.

"That's our man." His
father nodded to the far end of the room where a distinguished man in a dark
suit sat reading the
Financial Times
.

Cameron swallowed hard as they
threaded their way between the tables and chairs towards Alice's father. He had
never met the man and didn't want to. But this had to be done. He would not
lose Sami. He loved his baby boy, and Alice would be devastated if her father
somehow kept them from adopting him.

Heart hammering with tension, he
drew in a breath and steeled himself in much the same way he did before jumping
out of a helicopter to tend a casualty.

They stopped near the man and his
father cleared his throat. "Judge Conway?"

Alice's father looked up at the
sound of his name. He stared at them for a moment, his gaze passing over the
insignia of rank on their epaulets.

"I'm Major General Knight. I
believe you met my eldest son the other day."

Alistair Conway's expression
flashed from caution to alarm. "What can I do for you?" He rose to
his feet, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I'm Major Cameron
Knight." Cameron's voice came out gruff with nerves but he carried on,
determined not to show weakness. "I'm your daughter's husband and Sami's
dad."

The man frowned, his blue eyes
like Alice's yet so different. There was no emotion in those eyes at all.

"I understand you don't want
us to adopt Sami."

The man's gaze shot around the
room, gauging whether anyone had heard. "Let's discuss this
elsewhere."

Cameron held out the envelope.
"That won't be necessary. This won't take long."

Alice's father stared at the
envelope for a moment, then taking it, sat down and pulled the contents out on
the table before him.

Cameron had hoped Conway's
threats to interfere in Sami's adoption were nothing more than hot air, but
according to his father, the judge was known to play dirty.

The man scanned the few sheets of
paper. His gaze jumped back to them, eyes startled. "This happened at
college. The three girls all retracted their allegations against me."

Major General Knight shrugged.
"If the press gets a whiff of this, they'll send a reporter to find out
the truth. Of course, if you didn't assault those women you have nothing to
worry about."

"This is blackmail."

"No, this is defending my
family. When Alice married Cameron she became a Knight. As far as I'm
concerned, Sami is a Knight as well. The adoption paperwork is a mere
formality."

Cameron's father bent and tapped
a finger on the three incriminating sheets of paper he had acquired from the
archives at Oxford University. "Do not interfere with my family, Judge
Conway. You will not come out on top."

Cameron met the man's gaze and
held his steady, following his father's example. After a few seconds, Judge
Conway looked away. Cameron turned and strode from the library at his father's
side, victory and relief flaring in his chest.

Chapter Thirteen

Alice held Sami up with his back against her chest so he
could see the Christmas tree in the corner of Sandra and George's sitting room.
Sami babbled, kicking his legs as if he wanted to get down and help decorate
it.

Cameron, Radley, and little
George hung brightly colored baubles on the branches of the tree while Olivia
chased around the room after Emma, who had just begun walking. She kept picking
decorations up and running away with them, giggling.

They had all gathered for a
family dinner at Willow House, two weeks before Christmas, to celebrate the
successful home visit the social workers had made to Alice and Cameron's place.
The adoption agency had approved their home. Now Cameron was stationed in the
UK for the next three years, they filled all the criteria to adopt. The only
thing left was to make Sami's adoption legal in court. That would take place in
a few months, when they could be fitted into the court schedule.

Cameron tickled Sami, making him
squirm and giggle. "Do you like the Christmas tree, Samikins?"

"You do, don't you,
sweetie." Alice cradled her son's diaper-padded bottom in her right hand
and braced her left across his chest, still hoping Cameron might notice her
bare third finger. He seemed oblivious to the absent wedding ring. She had
resolved not to ask for one. She knew Cameron loved her. A ring was only a
piece of metal.

He blew on Sami's tummy, then
kissed Alice's hand, his gaze rising to hers as his lips touched her fingers.
"What do you think about renewing our vows in the local church at
Christmastime?"

"Renewing our vows? Isn't
that something people do when they've been married for years?"

"The vicar says he can't
marry us again. But if we renew our vows, we can have a ceremony in front of
the family with the white dress, the flowers, and the cake. Would you like
that?"

For a few seconds, Alice couldn't
believe her ears.

"A proper wedding?"

"As good as." Cameron
stroked back her hair, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes. Oh, yes."
Excitement bubbled inside Alice. She leaned her cheek into Cameron's hand as he
touched his lips to hers.

"I've been doing a little
organizing on the sly." Sandra rested a hand on Alice's shoulder with a
maternal smile. "My dear daughter-in-law, who's managed the seemingly
impossible task of pulling my youngest son into line, deserves the best. The
service will be short, but the vicar can fit you in on Christmas Eve."

Alice leaned into Cameron as he
slipped his arm around her waist. He hadn't forgotten about her wedding ring
after all. In fact, he'd done far more than simply buy a ring.

Sandra took Sami from Alice and
stepped back while Cameron fished a blue velvet box from his pocket and flipped
up the lid. "I thought you'd like something sparkly as well."

A beautiful sapphire and diamond
ring winked at her in the firelight. She'd never owned expensive jewelry.
Despite the fact her father was wealthy, she'd never owned anything much until
recently.

Cameron lifted the ring out of
the box and slipped it on her finger.

"It's lovely, Cam. Thank
you." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, holding back,
aware of the audience, when really she wanted to smother him in kisses. She'd
have to do that later in private.

Sandra and Olivia crowded around
to admire the ring. Cameron's father rose from his leather recliner by the
French door where he'd been reading the newspaper and came to have a look.
"Alice, I think it's about time you called me George. Or you can call me Dad,
if you'd rather. I promise I don't bite."

Heat warmed her cheeks. She
hadn't realized he'd noticed her awkwardness around him.

Sandra passed Sami back to her.
She cuddled up against Cameron with her baby, so happy she almost burst with
the feeling. "This will be the best Christmas ever."

"Ahh, Christmas."
Olivia picked up a squirming Emma. "I love Christmas, especially in Sandra
and George's house. It will always remind me of my first Christmas here six
years ago, when Radley proposed to me."

"He proposed on Christmas
Day?"

"At the dinner table."

"That's nearly as romantic
as renewing our vows on Christmas Eve." She pressed a kiss to Cameron's
cheek and he went back to decorating the tree.

"How did you meet
Radley?"

"He came home on leave a
week after I'd given birth. I needed so much help. I cringe to think how
useless I was. I couldn't pick little George up for six weeks."

Alice opened her mouth, then
closed it again, her brain processing. "You met Radley after George was
born?" That didn't make sense.

An awkward silence fell over the
room. Radley glanced at Cameron, who stared at the bauble in his hand. Olivia
bit her lip, then busied herself wiping a smear off Emma's cheek. "No more
Christmas chocolate for you, young lady. Not until Christmas Day."

She flashed an overly bright
smile at Alice and headed for the door. "I need to check her diaper."

"I'll help you." Radley
scooped a complaining George into his arms and headed after her. His parents
followed.

The door closed behind them. The
crackling log fire and the ticking clock were the only sounds left in the quiet
room.

"What did I say?" she
asked Cameron, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door.

Cameron dropped the bauble back
in the box and ran a hand over his hair. "There's something I should have
told you."

His somber tone flashed worry
along her nerves. "You're scaring me, Cam."

"It's nothing to be scared
about." He gave her a quick hug and guided her to the leather recliner
that his father had vacated.

He sat on the chair opposite and
rubbed his palms on his thighs. "Radley isn't George's father."

"Gosh. I had no idea. He
looks so much like Radley."

"I know. That's because
George is
my
son."

"Yours?"

Hot then cold flashed through
Alice. George was Cameron's son. "How can that be?"

"Livi was my girlfriend in
college. I got her pregnant by accident. It happens."

Alice just stared at him, her
mind blank. A chill pervaded her chest, yet she had no urge to cry. All her
emotions had been swept away, leaving her empty.

"You didn't want
George?"

"Of course I did. I wanted
to be his father." Cameron ran a hand over his mouth. "When Radley
fell in love with Olivia, it got too complicated. I had to step back and let
them be a family."

"So Radley adopted
George?"

"Yes. He's officially
George's father."

Alice struggled to draw breath
through a throat clogged with a million questions, none of which she could
vocalize. Cameron had given up the right to be George's father. Now he wanted
to adopt Sami. She fought to pull the two things together and make them fit.
Cameron was gentle and kind. He spent his whole career caring for people. The
man she thought she knew would never have given up his son.

She closed her eyes and pressed
her lips to Sami's soft hair, breathing in his reassuring baby smell. Cameron's
fingers touched her hand. Instinctively she flinched away. She needed space.

"Give me a moment to get my
head around this." Not only was George Cameron's son, it meant Olivia had
been Cameron's lover. How did Radley cope with that? Surely he found it
difficult.

She had been married to Cameron
all these months, become part of the Knight family, yet he hadn't told her.
None of them had. What must they have thought each time she commented how much
George looked like Radley?

Alice pressed a hand over her
eyes.

"I'm sorry, love. I didn't
want to hurt you." His voice was thick with anguish.

"Why didn't you trust me
enough to tell me sooner?"

"It wasn't that. I wanted to
tell you before I went back to Africa. The time never seemed right. Then with
all the hassle over the adoption, it went out of my mind."

She had to admit, the adoption
worries had pretty much consumed her thoughts as well.

"This has nothing to do with
you and me, or us and Sami. What happened between Olivia and me was years ago.
We were students. I'm different now."

"You must be. I can't
imagine you ever giving up your own son."

"If it had been anyone else
but Radley marrying Olivia, I wouldn't have given up my rights to George. I
didn't want to. It just seemed to be the right thing for him."

Alice's brain spun in circles,
going over the same questions repeatedly, her raging emotions fogging her
reason. "I need some time, Cam."

"Okay." He rose,
hesitated at her side, then left the room without touching her, shutting the
door softly behind him.

Sami wriggled and grunted,
stretching his arms towards the door where his daddy had disappeared. Tears
sprang into Alice's eyes. She hugged her little boy tightly and relaxed back in
the chair. Breathing deeply, she tried to expel the tension so she could get
her head around this.

Cameron had done what he thought
was best for George. But how could he give up his own son? He loved George,
that was obvious.

For what seemed like a long time,
she sat and stared at the flickering flames of the log fire, letting her
turbulent emotions settle until her normal common sense returned.

What he'd done in the past didn't
matter. That was six years ago.

If she went back six years, she'd
been a different person as well. She wouldn't have been ready to look after a
baby back then, either.

What mattered was how Cameron
behaved now, and he loved Sami.

She rose and carried her little
boy out of the room, following the sound of muted voices to the kitchen.
Cameron sat at the large wooden kitchen table with his head in his hands, his
mother at his side, her hand stroking his shoulder.

Sandra looked up as Alice came
in, a tentative smile on her face.

"Sami is missing his
daddy," Alice said, rounding the table to Cameron's side.

He glanced up, tears in his eyes.
She had to swallow hard not to cry. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled
her onto his lap, burying his face against her neck. Then he kissed her and
Sami.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"There's nothing to be sorry
for." Alice framed his dear face in her hands and smiled at the man she
loved so much, the man who had saved her life and given her a new life full of
love and happiness.

She'd had nothing before she met
Cameron, no loving family, no safe home. Now she had everything she could ever
want.

He might have been irresponsible
six years ago, but he wasn't any longer. The man she loved was a good man who
cared for his family and spent his life saving the lives of soldiers. He was a
man she was proud to call her husband. She couldn't wait to renew her wedding
vows in front of his family.

***

The medieval church spire stood tall above the small stone
cottages, silhouetted against a perfect blue winter's sky. Frosted tree
branches framed the road and blinking Christmas lights shone from the
villagers' tiny front gardens.

Alice gripped Cameron's hand and
stared out the back window of Radley's 4x4 as it crunched along the icy road,
circling the village green with its Christmas tree covered in sparkling color,
to turn between the stone gateposts to the church car park.

The church bells pealed as family
groups wrapped in thick coats, hats, and scarves hurried out of the door after
the Christmas Eve morning service. They jumped in their cars, eager to get out
of the cold. Radley pulled close to the church door and cut the engine.

Although she and Cameron were
already married, Alice's heart thudded with a mix of nerves and excitement.
This time the ceremony was in front of their friends and family, in a proper
church.

Cameron slipped an arm around her
shoulders and kissed her cheek. "You ready, love?"

"I wonder if Mum and Dad are
here." She leaned into him, resting her head on his lapel, listening to
the steady beat of his heart. His lips pressed against her temple, then he
dipped his head and found her mouth for a sweet kiss. A kiss that said whatever
happened he was here for her, that he loved her, and nothing would change that.
Even if her father tried to ruin their day.

"I shouldn't have invited
them." But she had so badly wanted her mother here. She'd wanted her to
come wedding-dress shopping with Sandra and Olivia as well. Her father had put
a stop to that.

"If your father does
anything to upset you, Dad will throw him out."

"Really?" Alice rarely
saw anyone stand up to her father.

Cameron's gaze held hers and he
nodded."Absolutely. I promise."

She smoothed her hand nervously
across the skirt of her beautiful hand-beaded tulle wedding dress. Over the top
she wore a white fur bolero shrug for warmth. Underneath, her legs were covered
in white woolen tights decorated with sparkly stars. Once she saw the gorgeous
dress, she was determined to find warm accessories so she could wear it in the
winter.

Cameron climbed out and came
around to open the door for her. Sandra, George and Olivia were already there
with the children, waiting in their cars. Sandra and George had volunteered to
look after Sami during the service. They got out when Alice did and loaded Sami
in his stroller. Her baby boy was so handsome in his new green Christmas suit
with tiny reindeer on his shirt and socks.

Emma was also strapped into her
stroller. Olivia pushed her inside, closely followed by Radley with George in a
stylish gray suit just like his father's.

Alice slipped her arm through
Cameron's and trod carefully along the recently swept flagstone path to the
church, taking the same route worshipers had walked to the old Norman building
for nearly a thousand years.