Feisty Firefighters Bundle

snaps on the stretchsuit, intending to direct a ‘you know you deserve everything that’s coming’ glance, but to her astonishment, the tips of Jason’s ears were bright pink. Good grief-the man was embarrassed!

He should be ashamed of himself if he couldn’t even remember the order or names of the string of women in his life. Maybe this was the first occasion he’d ever had to consider the repercussions of such an active social life. Or maybe he was disturbed by the wider picture he was currently having to confront. In any case, Laura liked the fact that he was embarrassed. She picked up the baby again and her lips curved into a smile against the soft wisps of blonde hair.

‘Daddy’s blushing,’ she whispered. ‘How about that?’

‘Daddy’ was still fielding a list of potential conquests that might have had confusing names.

‘What about Charlotte?’

‘Sounds a bit like Shelley.’

Despite the spotlight being so firmly on Jason, even Bruce, who was stifling frequent yawns, was not about to leave his fellow firefighter in the lurch and go home for some well-deserved rest. Stick shook his head sorrowfully.

‘This should be a lesson to us all. Anyone could just scribble in our names on some bloody birth certificate.’

‘Speak for yourself, mate. I’m happily married.’

‘DNA,’ Cliff said with relief. ‘You could get a test, Jase, and prove it’s not yours.’

‘That could take weeks! What the hell am I supposed to do with it in the meantime?’

‘Maybe the mother’s only gone shopping or something. She could be back any minute.’

‘Yeah, right. Like she’s come all the way from England for a spot of shopping and she leaves the baby on a doorstep in the middle of the night so she doesn’t have to bother finding a babysitter.’

Laura sat down at the table and Mrs McKendry silently handed her the bottle of formula. Tentatively, she poked the teat into the baby’s mouth and to her delight it was accepted enthusiastically.

‘Well, that’s a blessing,’ Mrs McKendry said. ‘At least she’s used to a bottle.’

Laura could feel the rhythmic tug of the sucking movements. The baby’s wide-eyed gaze fastened onto hers as though she was receiving the nourishment via some kind of visual connection. Laura found herself smiling.

‘Oh…she’s gorgeous!’

‘Aye.’ Jean McKendry’s expression softened noticeably. Then she pushed her spectacles more firmly onto the bridge of her nose and leaned a little closer to peer at the baby’s face.

‘It was Sharon!’ Jason announced.

‘What was?’

‘The woman who’s set me up. It has to be.’ Jason nodded to confirm his own statement. ‘A girl from England that I met when I had that summer holiday in the Coromandel.’

‘Sure it wasn’t Shelley?’

Jason frowned in concentration. ‘She had a sister and I remember that their names were alike enough to be confusing. It was a bit of a joke and they didn’t mind when I got it wrong.’ Jason nodded again, more slowly this time. ‘That must be where this has come from. Sharon’s sister has had a baby and they’ve decided to name me as the father.’

‘Maybe they want to emigrate or something,’ Cliff suggested.

‘Of course, that’s what it’ll be. It’s pretty hard to get into the country and having a New Zealand father for a child is probably a great start.’

‘Marrying the New Zealand father would have been a much safer plan,’ Laura said dryly. ‘I mean, writing in your name like that doesn’t make you the legal father. Why didn’t she turn up months ago?’

‘Dunno.’ Jason shrugged. ‘Maybe the sisters didn’t get together and come up with the plan until after the baby was born.’

‘How much alike did these sisters look, Jase?’

‘Identical. They were twins. Long blonde hair and cute accents. Young, though. I think they were only about nineteen.’ Jason rubbed the back of his neck as though something was hurting. ‘I suppose it could have been Shelley. Names didn’t actually seem that important at the time.’

The sniff that emanated from Mrs McKendry’s direction was an expression of frank disapproval.

‘It was only one night,’ Jason sighed. ‘There was this big beach party. Hey, I was on holiday. You’re supposed to have a good time on holiday!’

‘Not that good,’ Stick said enviously.

‘And not with twins!’ Tim sounded appalled.

‘It wasn’t with both of them. It was…I was…Oh, hell.’ Jason closed his eyes with apparent exhaustion. ‘It doesn’t matter. I can’t be the father.’ He stood up. ‘You were right, Bruce. Let’s hand this problem to the police. For all we know this baby’s been abducted and the birth certificate is some sort of nasty practical joke.’

‘It’s no joke.’ Mrs McKendry had simply been waiting for a gap in the rapid-fire conversation between the men. ‘And you might as well stop your havering, Jason Halliday. This bairn is yours.’

‘How can you say that?’ Jason’s astonishment at being betrayed by someone he trusted was directed at Mrs McKendry only briefly. Then it was transferred to Laura. ‘You think it’s mine, too, don’t you?’

Laura nodded. ‘It’s as plain as the nose on your face, I’m afraid, Jase. Or should I say the eyes.’

‘What about them?’ Jason asked faintly.

‘Come and have a look.’

They all came and had a look. They stared at baby Megan and then at Jason. And one by one they all nodded slowly.

‘It doesn’t matter if it was Sharon or Shelley or bloody Madonna,’ Stick said sadly. ‘Yep. This kid’s yours, all right, Jase.’

Laura couldn’t help it. ‘The eyes have it,’ she murmured.

Jason wasn’t amused. ‘Lots of people have eyes with rings around them.’

‘No.’ Laura was careful to keep her tone perfectly neutral. ‘Your eyes are actually quite unusual, Jase. And Megan’s are a carbon copy.’

Jason sank into the chair opposite Laura. ‘What am I going to do?’

You had to feel sorry for him, Laura decided. For someone like Jason who played almost as hard as he worked and made no secret of intending to enjoy his bachelor status for as long as possible, this had to be his worst nightmare. He looked defeated right now. Lost. And Laura couldn’t help offering a sympathetic smile. Jason’s forlorn gaze locked onto hers as though encouraging her to say something that might make this whole mess go away.

But it was Mrs McKendry who spoke and she wasn’t going to let Jason off any hook. ‘You’re going to take responsibility for your child, that’s what you’re going to do,’ she said crisply. ‘Laura, hand the baby over to its father.’

‘No! I’ll drop it.’

‘Don’t be such a gowk,’ Mrs McKendry snapped. ‘Laura?’

She felt like an executioner but Mrs Mack was right. This was Jason’s baby. His problem. He was now in such a shocked state he simply accepted the bundle Laura placed carefully into his arms. Then he stared at the baby’s face with an even more forlorn expression.

For several seconds, father and daughter exchanged stares of equal intensity. Then Megan Bates Halliday opened her tiny rosebud mouth and bellowed her disapproval.

‘She doesn’t like you much, does she?’ Bruce observed unnecessarily.

‘The feeling’s probably mutual right now,’ Stick said sympathetically.

‘You lot…’ Mrs McKendry peered over the top of her half-moon spectacles ‘…can all go home. You’re no’ helping and you need some sleep.’

‘You’re not wrong there.’ Bruce rubbed his face and didn’t bother hiding a yawn. ‘I’m absolutely knackered.’

‘Me, too,’ Cliff sighed. ‘Sorry, mate, but I’m going to have to head home and hit the sack.’

Megan’s cries became louder and Tim stood up as well. ‘You coming, Laura?’

‘In a minute.’ Laura couldn’t abandon Jason. Not when he looked at her with that kind of mute appeal. He