Having His Baby Read Online Free PDF Page A

now."
    Jake leaned over, lifted his hand to Donna's face and caressed her moist cheek. "Are you sure about that, sugar? As I recall, nothing short of an act of God would have prevented what happened between us."
    "Why you … you … you …" Donna spluttered furiously.
    "Calm down," Jake said. "What will these fine folks here think if we keep fussing with each other?"
    Donna glanced around the room at the attendants, who tried to pretend they weren't listening to every word of the not-so-private conversation. "Right this minute, I don't give a damn what anyone thinks."
    Dr. Farr motioned to Jake. "Are you ready to be a father, Mr. Bishop?"
    Was he ready to be a father? Hell, no! He'd been a renegade and a black sheep all his life. A hell-raiser, who had avoided responsibility and commitment for as long as he could remember. The last thing on earth he was ready for was fatherhood.
    But prepared for the awesome task or not, he was about to have fatherhood thrust upon him. Without prior warning. With no preparation.
    Jake stood, leaned over and kissed Donna's forehead. "I'm here for the duration, whether you want me or not."
    Donna grabbed Jake's hand. He grasped tightly. They gazed into each other's eyes for a brief moment.
    "I want you here," Donna admitted, doing a sudden about-face in attitude. "Don't leave me, Jake."

Two
    Following the last of Dr. Farr's instructions, Jake cut the umbilical cord. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as an exhilaration he'd never known rushed through his body.
    "How about a good look at your daughter, Donna?" Dr. Farr indicated for the nurse to lay the newborn on Donna's abdomen. "She seems to be perfect in every way."
    Jake stepped back, took a deep breath and gazed at the woman who had just given birth to his child. Despite the time in labor and with her makeup melted away, Donna was still beautiful. So beautiful that at that precise moment the sight of her and his infant daughter hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut.
    Tears trickled down Donna's cheeks as she smiled. "Oh, my, isn't she beautiful?"
    "Looks just like her daddy," one of the attendants said. "All that black hair and those big brown eyes. It's unusual for a baby to be born with such dark eyes."
    A lump formed in Jake's throat and his heart skipped a beat. That tiny, wet, pink bundle that the nurse lifted from Donna's belly and held up for his inspection did look like him. This little girl was a Bishop, through and through.
    The nurse cleaned Louisa Christine and dried her off, rubbing her briskly, then weighed and measured her. "Nine pounds, five ounces! And twenty-one inches long. She's a big girl."
    The nurse quickly wrapped the baby in a warm, pink blanket and placed a cotton cap on her head. Jake watched in amazement as his daughter opened her little mouth and let out a piercing wail.
    "Nothing wrong with her lungs, huh, Doc?" Jake said.
    Dr. Farr nodded. The attendants laughed softly. Donna turned her head so that she could see her child while the doctor finished his work. Then she gazed up at Jake. "Will you go out and tell everyone that I'm all right and that Louisa is just perfect?"
    "Sure thing."
    "Will you come back after you've told them?"
    Jake paused, walked over to the bed and wiped several damp strands of cinnamon hair from Donna's forehead. "I'm not going to leave you, sugar. I'll be around for as long as you need me."
    Her smile was faint and the look in her eyes questioned his sincerity. He supposed she had no reason to trust him. After all, they barely knew each other. He was scarcely more than a stranger to the mother of his child.
    "I'll let the folks know that there's a gorgeous new addition to the Bishop family." Jake headed for the door, stopped abruptly after he opened it, and glanced back over his shoulder. "I think maybe we should get married."
    Before Donna had a chance to reply, he walked into the hall and closed the door behind him. Within seconds the Bishop clan surrounded him, bombarding him