Page 43 of A Chance to Believe

The screen froze, and the doctor was doing something with the keyboard.

‘I’ll do another printout for you. Though from the looks of things, you’ll be seeing the real thing soon now.’

‘Is there a problem?’ Cassie’s voice had a crack in it.

‘No. Not at all. Everything looks wonderful. I doubt if you’ll go full term, though. Baby One is already very low in your pelvis.’

Shayne stifled a laugh. ‘Sounds like theBananas in Pyjamas.’

Jen Parker raised her brows. ‘Have you chosen names yet?’

‘No.’ Cassie looked at him. ‘We should talk about it soon.’

Hell. He hadn’t given names any thought, but if they were going to be born any time, it was a priority. Courtney had decided on Kimberley’s name with no input from him. This time, he would like to be a part of that. ‘Yeah. We’ll have to make time for us to get together.’

With a nod, Cassie focused her attention on him. ‘I have a name book or you can look on the internet for ideas.’

The doctor seemed a little bemused, but she’d be thinking they were a normal couple, not two separate people who happened to be about to share a couple of kids.

The next stop was with Morgan Cavanaugh. It was weird seeing him in his professional guise. Not that he had much to say. Only that everything was going well, but he wanted her to come weekly for these last few weeks. Something about monitoring the size of the twins. He sounded doubtful about whether there would be many more visits, and Shayne rolled the tension out of his shoulders as they walked out to the car.

‘We can expect things to happen soon?’

Cassie glanced up at him. ‘Apparently. I’ve got everything organised, in case.’

‘Will you have to go back to Brisbane?’

‘Doctor Reece doesn’t think so. He suggested Bialga. It’s only half an hour away and they have all the facilities.’

Shayne hadn’t met the ob-gyn specialist, but Cassie seemed to feel confident in his skills. ‘Can I be there for the birth?’

He heard her draw in a sharp breath. ‘You’d want to be there?’

It was hard to read her reaction. Hard to guess if she wanted him with her. ‘I’d like to be there if you wouldn’t mind.’

Her sudden smile was wide and her eyes almost glowed. ‘That would be wonderful. I’d like you to experience it with me. Though I understand fathers are known to faint.’

‘Blood doesn’t scare me. I’m a farmer.’

‘I guess I’m not that different from a sheep when it comes to giving birth.’

There was a twinkle in her eyes and a quirk to the corner of her mouth that told him she was teasing. ‘Not as woolly, but the principle would be the same.’

Her laugh curled around his chest, pinching at his heart. He felt things about this woman he’d never expected to feel. A sense of accomplishment at making her laugh was the least of them.

His mind was buzzing on the drive home. Cassie must have things on her mind too, because she was quiet. Her head turned slightly away as though she were watching the passing scenery.

There were things he needed to organise to make sure he’d be able to leave at the drop of a hat if Cassie went into labour. The rodeo was next week, so he could only hope he didn’t have a scheduling conflict between his daughter and the birth of his sons. Names. He needed to think about names. Cassie probably had ideas, but she had shown she expected him to bring ideas to the table.

Family names were an option. William was popular these days, but he wasn’t sure how Algernon would go down. Though Algie sounded okay. Unless you thought about algae. Maybe not. He chuckled to himself, and Cassie turned her head.

‘Something amusing you?’

‘I was thinking about baby names. I had just decided not to submit Algernon as an option.’

‘Is it a family name?’

‘My grandfather. Dot’s husband.’

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