Chapter 26 #2
‘Yes. Percy. My boyfriend.’ Percy? Where the frick had that come from?
As realisation dawned, Maddie just hoped that Rachel didn’t spot the huge packet of Christmas Percy Pigs that were on the counter by the cash register.
Nancy from Next Door had brought them in for Jessie and Maddie on her way back from picking up her Christmas food order at Marks and Spencer yesterday.
Meanwhile, beside her, Jessie was sharp enough to suss out that something was going on and immediately become a co-conspirator. ‘Yes, you go and call Percy, pet, and I’ll finish off here,’ she said, picking up the scissors and the comb and popping them into the counter-top steriliser.
‘Thanks, Jessie. By the way, this is Dylan’s…’
‘Wife,’ Rachel finished the sentence for her.
If anyone wondered why Val, a few feet across the room, was now choking, they didn’t say.
Jessie, who Maddie now decided could be an undercover spy in any other life, acted like this was absolutely normal news.
‘Och, he’s a lovely man. Anyway, off you go, Maddie, I’ve got this.
’ The message in her steely gaze was clear, as their eyes met.
On you go. Don’t worry. We’ve got you. ‘Val, you dry your own hair, love – you always complain about how I do it anyway. Mrs Dawson, you enjoy that mulled wine and I’ll be back with you shortly.
Right, Rachel, where do you stand on the Mariah versus Leona argument? ’
Maddie managed to hold it together all the way into the staffroom, where she picked up her jacket and her bag, pulled them on and then somehow managed a cheery wave as she passed back through the salon, looking straight ahead, not left, not right.
Thankfully, Alyssa was in deep conversation with the vicar, or she knew her friend would be chasing her down the street.
Hours later, she had no memory of getting home.
No recollection of showering, or climbing into her cream fleecy trouser and sweatshirt lounge set.
All she knew was that by the time Jessie, Val and Alyssa came through the door at six o’clock, she was on the sofa, under a blanket, and neither Mariah nor Leona could have provided a single ounce of festive cheer.
Alyssa plonked herself down on the floor in front of the couch, on account of the fact that Jessie and Val didn’t have the knees for that. They opted for the two armchairs opposite her.
‘I know the answer’s obvious, but how are you doing there?’ Alyssa asked, as she reached over and pushed Maddie’s hair back off her face.
Maddie wasn’t sure which of her mixed emotions to go with first, so she just blurted them all out one after the other.
‘I feel like a complete tit because I had no idea that he still had a thing going with his ex-wife. He hasn’t mentioned her to me in all the time he’s been away.
I also feel like a complete tit because I think I was developing real feelings for him and now I’m just, you know, the pregnant one-night stand.
And also in titdom, I feel stupid because I’ve been protecting his dreams this whole time, when I had no idea that his dreams included someone else. ’
‘Lots of tits there, pet. And none of them are justified,’ Val countered. ‘You had good intentions from the start and if Dylan is going back to his ex, well hell mend him. She cheated on him and her eyes are too close together. Always a red flag.’
‘Thanks, Val. I think you might be biased, but thanks anyway.’ She took a breath, because in among the negatives, she’d landed on one glaring positive.
‘The only silver lining to the whole thing is that at least I’m no longer conflicted and feeling awful about the fact that I haven’t told him that I’m pregnant yet.
I know I promised I’d tell him before the baby was born, so we’ve planned a FaceTime for tomorrow, and I was going to share the news then.
It was either going to be the best Christmas present ever, or the worst, depending on how he takes the news.
But I’m not doing that now. He wants a different life and I’m choosing to accept that.
I’ll never let anyone accuse me of holding him back or tying him down, so this is it.
Just me and the baby. Maybe I’ll tell him at some point in the future, but not now.
I’ll do it when I’m ready. Me and the baby…
we can do this. I’ll figure it all out on my own. I don’t need him.’
She could see by the glances that shot between them all that they probably didn’t agree with that decision, but they were obviously choosing not to argue in this moment.
‘Look, today’s been a day of shocks, pet…’ Val began.
Maddie nodded. ‘It has, but I’ll be fine. I just need to… figure it all out.’ The words got caught in the huge boulder of a lump in her throat. As she fought to hold it together, she saw another glance pass between them, then a silent nod as some kind of telepathic decision was made.
‘Well, we – the three of us – thought we’d help you figure out some of the things you’ve got ahead of you,’ Jessie began. ‘We were going to wait until tomorrow, but we reckon you need a bit of cheering up right now.’
Alyssa climbed off the floor, as Val and Jessie clambered up from their seats.
Alyssa held her hand out. ‘Come with us.’
‘Have you got a cake in the kitchen?’ Maddie got her hopes up. ‘Because if you have, I’ll love you forever.’ It wouldn’t solve her long list of problems, but it would make her feel better for the next five minutes.
‘Nope, it’s better than that.’ Alyssa went behind her, as Val and Jessie led the way through into the hall, past a Christmas tree so large it took up almost the entire space, around the motion-sensor penguins that sang ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ every time someone passed them, and up the stairs.
‘Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been getting some work done in our Dee’s old room while you were at the salon,’ Val said, and Maddie gasped.
In the years since Dee died, Val had let many of the waifs and strays she’d taken in stay in that bedroom, but it had always remained exactly as it was when eighteen-year-old Dee had moved out to go to university.
Now, as Val turned around outside the closed door of Dee’s room, Maddie saw that her blue mascaraed lashes were brimming with tears. As were Jessie’s. And Alyssa’s. Oh no, what was in there?
Val opened the door, stepped back, and beckoned to Maddie to enter. She took a couple of steps forward and…
It was the same room, but so different. It had been a teenager’s hideout, with Take That and Spice Girls posters on the walls.
But now those walls were pale shades of mint and cream.
There was an oak cot in the corner, with an animal mobile stretched over the teddy bear sheets and a little padded sleepsuit hanging from the top rail.
On the other wall, there was a white wardrobe, doors open, so that she could see at least a dozen little outfits hanging above piles of babygrows on the bottom shelf.
There were packets of newborn nappies on the changing table next to it, with blankets and fresh white towels and baby wipes stacked in the baby bath underneath.
And in the corner was a beautiful pram, with a car seat attached to it.
It was the perfect newborn nursery and every single thing she needed, all the decisions she’d put off making, all the items she’d been saving for, were all already there.
‘This is our Christmas pressie to you and the baby, from all of us,’ Alyssa said, her arm around Maddie’s shoulders now. ‘Because the thing is, you and the baby don’t need to do this alone. Not when you’ve got all of us.’
This was the most wonderful, most special, most absolutely spectacular thing anyone had ever done for her and Maddie didn’t know what to say. That’s when the baby decided to speak for her, by delivering a feeling that was brand new. A pain. A tightness. A heart-thudding cramp.
Maddie yelped, doubled over and reached for something to steady her. Her hands grabbed the top of the cot as she buckled forward.
‘I love you all so much,’ she panted. ‘And I can’t thank you enough. But I think… something… is happening.’