The Christmas Vigil by Chris Taylor Read Free Book Online

assume he hadn’t yet spoken to her. “When are you heading up there to see him?”
    “Alex has insisted I fly up tonight. She’s too far along to fly with me, so she’s staying put. If she goes into labor, I’ll be on the next plane back.”
    Chloe bit her lip. “I think I need to wake Declan. This is something he needs to know. He’ll want to fly up there with you, if he can. He’ll want to be there for his mom.”
    “Yeah, I think that might be for the best. I doubt he’ll want to work tonight once he’s told Dad is so ill. Clayton’s flying from Canberra into Sydney and will get a connection from there. Declan might be able to get on the same flight.”
    “I’ll look into it right away. You need to be together. Your father and mother need you and you all need each other. It’s times like this that family is so important. Believe me, I know.”
    This time, Brandon’s sigh was filled with relief. “Thanks, Chloe. I appreciate your support and I’m sure the rest of the family will, too.”
    “Give my love to your parents and tell them I’m praying hard.”
    “I will. Please have Declan call me as soon as he can.”
    Chloe ended the call and set the phone back on the coffee table. She was loathe to wake her husband, but she didn’t have a choice. His father was gravely ill, perhaps dying. Who knew how much time he might have left? It was important Declan be there. At the very least, he’d want to know.
    She stood up from where she’d been sitting on the couch and immediately swayed with dizziness. She’d been feeling lightheaded and nauseous for the past few weeks. It would come and go in waves and appear and disappear without warning. She’d put it down to a virus her daughter must have brought home from day care. Even though Jessica hadn’t displayed any symptoms herself, it was possible she’d come into contact with it and had passed it on to her mother.
    Chloe grimaced. It wouldn’t be the first time. At fifteen months of age, Jessie was still in the baby room at the local day care center and seemed to come into contact with more than her fair share of stomach bugs and other viruses. No doubt she’d have a sturdy immune system by the time she started formal schooling. No doubt they all would.
    With the wave of dizziness passing, Chloe walked down the hall toward the bedroom she shared with her husband. She glanced in on their daughter, who’d settled for an afternoon nap not long after Declan had gone to bed. Jessie’s eyes were closed and her breathing was deep and even. Chloe smiled, pleased to see her little girl was asleep. Dinner time was always so much more pleasant when she was rested.
    Chloe continued further down the hall. Her gaze skimmed over the collection of framed photographs that lined either side of the dark-green walls. The twelve-foot-high, pressed-metal ceilings allowed for a veritable gallery of pictures to be hung on display at eye level and upwards. What started out as a hobby was fast becoming an obsession, particularly since the birth of Jessica. Chloe never tired of spending quiet time with her baby and capturing the endless special moments through her lens.
    The majority of the pictures were family photographs. Declan came from a family of nine. She came from a family of six. In addition, there were spouses, children, nieces and nephews… She was never short of subjects.
    Reaching the end of the hall, Chloe drew in a deep breath before she eased open the half-closed door that led into their bedroom. The aged, polished timber floorboards were soft and shiny beneath her bare feet. Despite his fatigue, Declan’s clothes hung neatly over the back of the carved wooden rocking chair that stood in one corner of the room. He’d been a neat freak when she’d met him and three years of married life hadn’t changed a thing. She supposed she was lucky. Plenty of women would envy her having a man who cleaned up after himself—especially when he did it without having to be