Chapter 20
Three days later, all the delivery vans had come and gone, the decorating and furnishing of the house was almost complete. The new kitchen had been returned and Bill had been back personally to paint the kitchen walls and doors. He had seemed a bit bemused by the change of plan, but never mind, Bella was very happy with the results.
‘It’s fantastic,’ she told him. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking of with the black and stainless steel, so cold and impersonal.’
‘Quite tricky to clean too,’ he told her. ‘You’ll be getting grubby little handprints on everything soon.’ He gestured to her stomach, now an eye-popping mound which looked too heavy for her frame to support.
‘Any day now then, is it?’ he asked.
‘It’s actually due tomorrow, but the first ones are always late, aren’t they? Just as well, there’s still a few things left to do.’
She ran through her mental checklist: curtains for all the rooms, more towels and sheets. Don was taking her shopping at the weekend for the final baby things: nappies, cotton wool, vests.
Bella felt quite sad to see Bill go. He had been knocking around the place with his workers ever since she moved in. As he drove off in his little blue van, she realised it was the first time she’d been alone in the house during the day.
After lunch she fell asleep on the sofa and when she woke up at about 4p.m., she lay still, feeling the baby stir inside her tummy. She heaved herself down off the bed and stood up. There was a very odd sensation between her legs, like a hard ball pressing down from inside. She took several steps, but it was still there, and she had to waddle. The weight was incredible, and the baby’s head had obviously moved right down, ready to go.
When Don got home that night he found Bella in her by now regular position on the sofa, in the black trousers and tartan shirt.
‘Hello, gorgeous girl.’
She held her arms out to him. ‘We have to celebrate tonight, the decorators have moved out and the place is finally ours,’ she said.
‘I’ve got beer for me, microwavable duck and noodles for us, then ice cream and about a kilo of grapes for you,’ he revealed.
‘I could grow to love you, Mr McCarthy,’ she answered.
She went to bed early, feeling tired and heavier than ever. Her stomach was tingling, there were little ripples of contractions passing up and down it and she could feel it go hard then relax again.
At about four in the morning, she stumbled out of bed to go to the loo. As she sat there she was aware of a strange trickling sensation, as an alarming quantity of mucus spilled out.
From her swotting of the birth books, she knew the birth was going to happen in the next day or two. She felt a small thrill take hold of her, mixed with panic. Now?? Not yet!!
She couldn’t feel anything – no contractions, nothing different – so she went back to bed.
Just before 6a.m. she woke to small stitchy pains travelling across her stomach. She lay in bed watching the numbers stack up on the digital alarm clock. The pains lasted just a few minutes. Then at 6.23, they were back… and again at 6.57.
Just after 7a.m. she woke Don.
‘You’re having a day off today,’ she said, amazed at how calm and relaxed she felt.
He opened his eyes and smiled. ‘Really?’
Then he sat bolt upright. ‘Oh my God, you mean… Has it really started?’
‘I think so!’