The Army Doctor's Wedding by Helen Scott Taylor

in front of her. Her braided
hair hung forward, gleaming in the lights like gold.
    "If I were you, I'd have
other things on my mind besides work," the young captain said.
    That was the problem. Cameron did
have other things on his mind. Inappropriate things considering the marriage
was in name only. Ever since the wedding ceremony two days ago, he'd started to
notice Alice in a way he hadn't before. Maybe he had a mental block that
labeled female patients as off limits, and that had been lifted. He gave the
man a weak smile. "Okay. Well, you know where I am if you need me."
    He turned and wandered to a
storage unit and grabbed an armful of ration packs. The last thing he felt like
was food, but it might distract him. "Anyone for some lunch?"
    Most of the soldiers answered in
the affirmative and he tossed the ration packs to them, before grabbing a
couple for Alice and himself.
    "They don't need you
then?" she asked as he sat at her side. The bruising around her eyes had
finally faded. Her blue eyes looked bigger and her previously swollen nose was
now small and very cute.
    To make matters worse, he had
realized there was no way he could simply file for an annulment of the marriage
on the grounds of non-consummation. He was the one who'd signed the adoption
papers. If they dissolved the marriage, it would mess up any likelihood that
the British courts would ratify the existing adoption. Alice would then have to
start again from scratch.
    Until the adoption was finalized
in the UK, the marriage must appear to be real. He had no idea how she would
feel about that. They needed to talk the issue over soon.
    "Are you sure you're happy
to come to my brother's?" In this situation, it seemed sensible that he
and Alice should stay together with Sami. His relatives would be only too happy
to meet Alice and the baby. They might not be quite so overjoyed when they
discovered the circumstances of the marriage.
    "That would be great, if
they don't mind."
    "Did you want to go and see
your parents over the weekend?"
    Alice ducked her head and sorted
through her ration pack.
    "Is there a problem,
Alice?" He'd noticed she avoided talking about her parents.
    She flashed him an oblique look
that he couldn't decipher. "Dad's busy. I don't want to trouble him. I'll
call my mum sometime."
    Alice had been out of the country
in a war zone for months, yet she thought her father wouldn't have time for
her?
    Normally he wouldn't pry into
someone's personal life, but this was different. Alice was his wife. "You
don't get along with your father?"
    She shrank down in her seat and
hugged her ration pack. "I don't want him to know about Sami."
    "Okay." Warning bells
sounded in Cameron's head. Her expression closed off at the mention of her
father. He wanted to know why. It occurred to him that he had no idea what sort
of a background Alice came from. He knew nothing about her except her
nationality and that she hailed from the London area like him.
    "I'll need to notify Social
Services about Sami when we arrive back," she said, obviously aiming to
deflect any further questions about her father.
    "My sister-in-law is a
lawyer. She specializes in family law. I expect she can help us."
    Cameron had a nasty suspicion the
Social Services people weren't going to like the fact they had brought a
foreign orphan into the country without being vetted as adoptive parents first.
He hoped it didn't count against them too much.
    It was a good thing he had a
close, well-connected family. Cameron was no social worker, but he guessed
Social Services were a lot more likely to let Alice keep the baby if she stayed
in a supportive family environment.
    Alice leaned down and rested her
hand on Sami's chest as if drawing strength from her connection with the boy.
"Are you sure your family won't mind putting me and Sami up?"
    Cameron wanted to keep them with
him, and it wasn't just because of the adoption. He wanted to make sure Sami
was all right, and monitor Alice's arm. That's