Chapter 15
Bella had forgotten how fantastically opulent Tania’s family home was. It was in the heart of stockbroker-belt Kent, a big country house in its own small woodland.
They arrived just before noon and as they drove up to the house, gravel crunched under the car wheels and Tania’s French mother, Valerie, was at the door to greet them with hugs and kisses. Her father, Ronald, was in the enormous sitting room, drinking a pre-lunch gin and tonic. He insisted Bella sit with him for a bit, because he wanted to hear her City gossip.
‘You are not allowed to monopolise Bella, mon chérie. I want to hear all about your pregnancy, darling,’ Valerie warned from the door.
‘Now, what are you drinking, girls? We’ve got mineral water, cranberry juice, apple, all sorts of soft things in for you, Bella.’
‘Cranberry, please,’ said Bella.
‘Gin and vermouth with a twist,’ said Tania.
‘Ha ha,’ Valerie answered. ‘You’ll have a white wine and be grateful. In fact, you should probably have a cranberry juice and a handful of milk thistle capsules for all the abuse you do to your liver in town.’
It was lovely to be there. Valerie mollycoddled Bella all day, listening with sympathy to her anxieties about everything from coping with a baby to dealing with the over-stretched hospital.
‘I think I might have a good idea for you,’ Valerie said when she had taken all of Bella’s worries on board, ‘have you heard about doulas?’
‘Ummm… vaguely, not really.’
‘A doula is not meant to replace your NHS care, but she supplements it. She can come to your home for the antenatal care, be with you during your whole labour and then help to look after you and the baby in the weeks after the birth if you want her to. Let me give you some information.’
When Valerie returned, she had the article she’d written about a London doula service, complete with contact details.
‘Have a read and think it over,’ she suggested. ‘And now I want to hear all about this new home you’re buying.’
So then they fell into an animated decorating conversation along with Tania, who lived for interior design.
‘I love this room,’ said Bella, taking in the rugs, antiques, luscious plants, paintings and all the polished and beautiful things.
‘Oh, it’s very boring,’ Valerie assured her. ‘It has nice floorboards, very expensive curtains – you didn’t hear that, Ronald – and everything else is white. White walls, white sofas and then all the plants, paintings, cushions, rugs, and objets one seems to accumulate.’
‘Not very minimal though, is it?’ said Tania.
‘And what makes you think I’m going to be minimal?’ Bella asked, but this just made Tania laugh.
‘Well, for a start, you’re a mathematician,’ Tania began, ‘and mathematicians are usually very precise. And secondly, you haven’t got any stuff, Bella. Your house is going to be a temple to Zen unless you do some serious shopping.’
‘Don has stuff. I made him throw out boxes of stuff before he was allowed into my flat. But I suspect he put some of it into storage.’
‘I hope so because he’s got a sofa and a bookcase left. I’ve been to your place,’ Tania teased.
‘Well, I was planning to buy a few things,’ said Bella.
‘Then you have to take me with you,’ Tania suggested. ‘In another month, you’re not going to be in a fit state to go alone. By month eight you’ll have lost your marbles and won’t be able to make any good decisions.’
‘No, I will not!’
‘Tell her, Mum.’ Tania sounded like a teenager.
‘Well, there are so many things to think about,’ Valerie soothed, ‘and so many hormones buzzing round the system, mental calculations go down the priority list before and after birth.’
‘Oh, great,’ said Bella. ‘Like I haven’t got enough to worry about.’
‘When do you stop working?’ Valerie asked.
‘I’m working right up to labour day, I hope, then taking about three months off.’
‘Bella, for a first baby, this is not enough,’ Valerie told her bluntly.
‘Well, I’ve got a client waiting for me in August and my boss is not exactly brim-full of understanding right now,’ Bella replied, ‘so it will have to do.’
‘Oh, you are pushing yourself very hard,’ Valerie added. ‘Just like Tania. Maybe you should take a step back and think about the long term. Will a few extra months off now really make such a difference to your career in ten years’ time?
‘And think about who will look after your baby when you go back to work. That is so important.’ She patted Bella’s arm then stood up and announced, ‘The food is ready, let’s go and eat.’