The Millionaire's Redemption (25 page)

“I only ever wanted your love.”

“You’ve got it now and forever, unconditionally, Holly. So, you’ll marry me?”

She stared into his eyes and there was no mistaking his sincerity. She wanted to speak, but a sudden all consuming weariness descended on her. She felt her last reserve of strength ebb away.

“You’re exhausted.” He put his finger out and stroked her cheek. “Give the baby to me. I’ll see to him. You hop into bed.” He took Robert off her and held him in the crook of one arm.

Holly didn’t have the strength to stand up. The tears started rolling down her cheeks and she brushed them away angrily. Justin was here. He loved her. They were safe. “Why am I crying?”

“Because you’re absolutely exhausted, darling. You’ve reached the end of your tether.” He helped her up, and with his free arm supporting her, she tottered into the bedroom.

The baby whimpered. “Shh.” Justin rocked him gently. “We’ll look after your mummy first. She’s your meal ticket.”

“Do you know how to change a nappy?”

“No, but I’m a quick learner, and there are probably instructions on the packet.”

“You can’t know how relieved I am to have you here. I’m just about ready to fall apart.”

“I know, any wonder after what you’ve been through.” All because of me he castigated himself. What would have happened if Holly had completely collapsed? He shuddered on thinking about the danger all three of them had been in. A vision of finding them dead reared up and nearly plucked his eyes out.

“Holly, um...” He felt hot and flustered. “Is there anything I need to do for you?”

“No thanks. After I’ve had a sleep you can cook me something if you like. There are tins of food in the cupboard.”

She slid gratefully into bed beside Lilly who still slept soundly. “I’m too tired to bother changing into my nightie. A couple of hours sleep and I’ll be as good as new,” she promised.

He doubted it. By the look of her, she needed to sleep for a week.

“If you don’t think you can manage to change Robert, I’ll...”

“No, no, I’ll be all right,” he interrupted with more confidence than he felt. How hard could it be to change a baby’s nappy? For goodness sake, he had degrees in business management and economics didn’t he? Leaning over he kissed Holly on the forehead. “Go to sleep, leave everything to me.”

The baby was saturated. The wetness had even seeped through the all-in- one suit thing he wore. Justin fumbled around near the chest of drawers where the crib stood and found a box of disposable nappies. After extracting one, he glanced around and spied a pile of baby clothes. Searching through them, he selected a similar garment to what the baby already wore. He didn’t dare put him down in case he started crying and woke Lilly.

He wanted to have the place cleaned up as well. He suddenly realized why Holly had gotten so completely overwhelmed by everything. She was recovering from childbirth. What was his excuse?

Feeling inadequate for the first time in his life, he made his way to the lounge room. Laying the baby on the sofa, he knelt on the floor and unclipped the fastening on the legs of the suit and pulled the lower half of his body out of it.

Hell. Even before he saw the mess he smelt it. Of all the rotten luck, Robert had both wet and dirtied himself. Now what? He almost yelled out to Holly. Was he a man or a mouse? What could he clean the mess up with?

He spied a box of tissues. Forcing himself not to gag he undid the nappy. He cleaned the baby up then exchanged the dirty wet nappy for a clean one. How tiny and fragile the baby looked lying with his eyes wide open, a pout on his little mouth.

After checking him to make sure he had everything a boy baby should have and carefully avoiding the still raw umbilical cord area, he adjusted the nappy and stuck down the tabs on either side.

“Not a bad job, little man, if I do say so myself. Now, if I can get you out of this wet suit and into a dry one, we’ll be in business.”

He gave an audible sigh of relief after he finished the job, but Robert started to screw his face up, ready to let out a scream. He hadn’t banked on that.

He picked up the baby and leaned him against his shoulder and started patting him on the back. “Shh, don’t wake your mother or your sister.” He started walking him up and down. “I’m new to this stuff. Give me a break. We’re both males. We have to stick together. Don’t expect me to sing to you because I don’t know any songs.”

The whimpers turned into little snuffles and he felt a surge of triumph. This combined with the pride of having such a beautiful son, gave him the biggest adrenalin rush he had ever had.

He wanted to be a hands-on dad and a good husband to Holly. All his doubts were blown away on that score now. He only needed to convince her. Even if she
wasn’t
prepared to again offer him the love that had once shone in her eyes, he would gratefully accept whatever crumbs of affection she might feel inclined to cast his way.

If he bided his time, did the right thing by her, showed that he had changed and genuinely wanted to make a life for all of them, he could win her over. She was sweet and warm without a vicious bone in her whole body.

It would work out for them. He had to believe that if he wanted to keep his sanity. Why did a man have to nearly lose something before he realized its value?

***

When Holly woke up it was five o’clock in the morning but still dark. Lilly lay cuddled up to her sleeping peacefully. Why hadn’t the baby cried to be fed? Carefully she edged away from Lilly, climbed out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom to freshen up.

In the lounge room, which now oozed warmth, she stopped dead at the sight meeting her eyes. The whole place had been tided up, and Justin lay flat on his back on the sofa with Robert stretched out on his stomach. Both of them were sound asleep. She was nearly swamped by an overwhelming tide of emotion. So much for the breakfast he had promised to cook.

An imp of mischief prompted her to go over to the sofa. She felt invigorated, like a new woman now. She had slept without interruption for a few hours. More important, Justin was here with them. His eyes were closed, his long lashes resting on his cheeks. When she ran a finger over his puckered lips, he drew it into his mouth and she realized he was awake.

“What time is it?” he asked, stifling a yawn, but not daring to move in case he disturbed the baby.

“Five o’clock.”

“Aw hell.” He winced. “I’ve got a crick in my neck, and I’ve probably slipped a couple of discs in my back. More importantly, how do you feel now?”

“Much better.” She leaned over and picked up Robert who was starting to stir. “Thanks for cleaning up for me, the place looks decent now.”

Decent? It was a bloody dump but he didn’t say so. He didn’t want to get her back up as she still hadn’t agreed to marry him.

“If you feel up to cooking me breakfast like you promised, I’ll feed
the baby
. He’s getting ready to start bellowing.”

She sat on the sofa and Justin barely had time to swing his legs to the floor.

He watched as Holly put the baby to her breast and he started sucking strongly.

“
Your son is
a hungry little man.”

“Yeah.” Justin grinned. He rubbed his fingers across his stubbly chin and stood up. “I’ll get the breakfast like I promised, if you...” he stopped mid-sentence.

“If I what?”

“Agree to marry me.”

Her girlish giggle warmed his heart, and happiness surged through him.

“Yes, I’ll marry you, Justin.”

“Good, I better get started on breakfast. I’ll make the arrangements for us to be married as soon as I can, and Holly, I want you to know that I love Lilly too. I’d be proud if you would let me adopt her.”

“But...”

“Only if you want to, of course. I mean, later, you can explain about her father. I’d never want to take that away from her.”

“Oh Justin, I’m so happy. Do you think he’d mind?”

He didn’t even pretend to not know what she was talking about. “No,” he said softly, picking up her hand and raising it to his lips. “Not if he’s the kind of man you described to me. He would be glad you and Lilly were able to find happiness again.”

Justin was right. Holly thought of the young soldier who slept amidst the green fields of his native land, and she somehow knew he would be pleased for her and Lilly.

The End

About the Author

Margaret Tanner is a multi-published Australian author. She loves delving into the pages of history as she carries out research for her historical romance novels, and prides herself on being historically accurate. No book is too old or tattered for her to trawl through, no museum too dusty, or cemetery too overgrown. Many of her novels have been inspired by true events, with one being written around the hardships and triumphs of her pioneering ancestors in frontier
Australia
.

As part of her research she has visited the World War 1 battlefields in
France
and
Belgium
, a truly poignant experience.

Margaret is a member of the Romance Writers of Australia, the Melbourne Romance Writers Group (MRWG) and EPIC.  She won the 2007 and 2009 Author of the Year at AussieAuthors.com. Her novel Frontier Wife won the Best Historical Romance Novel at the 2010 Readers Favorite Award, and another novel, Wild Oats was a 2011 Finalist in the EPIC awards.

Margaret is married with three grown up sons, and a gorgeous little granddaughter.

Outside of her family and friends, writing is her passion.

Website: 
http://www.margarettanner.com/

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