Chapter 19 #3
‘No, thanks,’ I replied, as desperate to get out of there as I was sure Edward was.
‘Coffee, please,’ he replied at the same time.
Oh.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Maria said.
We said our goodbyes, and he retook his seat.
The waitress was still hovering.
‘Sorry, did you not want a tea or a coffee?’ he asked.
‘I just… I just thought you might want to get home.’
He looked genuinely confused. ‘No, not particularly. Did you have to get back for something? Apologies if you told me.’ He began to cancel his order with the waitress.
‘No… no. Have your coffee.’ I looked towards her. ‘I’ll have a decaf one too, please.’
She scribbled down the order and hurried off.
‘Sorry.’ He looked across the table, concern creasing his brow. ‘If you want to go, that’s fine.’
‘No, really, I’m fine. I just thought you might after…’ I jerked my head as subtly as I could in the direction of where the midwife had retreated to.
‘Maria?’
‘Yes.’
‘No, not at all. Like she said, she’s known me since the year dot.’
‘I know but she seems rather… excited by the prospect of your wedding.’
‘Ah. Yes. That.’ He turned the sugar bowl a quarter turn to the left then half a turn to the right as though he was unlocking a safe hidden beneath the table.
‘She’s always been incredibly interested in my love life.
Probably more so than my mother, if I’m honest.’ He shrugged.
‘I don’t mind. She’s a lovely lady and always took her job very seriously and would say how honoured she felt to be at the birth of all the children she attended. ’
‘Did your mum have you at home?’
‘Yep. I arrived a bit early so there wasn’t a lot of time for faffing around getting ready to go to the hospital.
Apparently, my father announced to my mother that there was nothing to worry about as he’d helped a mare give birth and I should only have two legs and those would be shorter than a foal’s! ’
‘Oh no!’ I giggled. ‘I can’t imagine she was all that reassured by that!’
‘I’ve never known her actual reply. We’ve merely been told it was unrepeatable so I’m thinking you’re right.’
‘Poor Penelope.’
‘Luckily, Dad had also called Maria and she got there super quick, confirmed there was no time for a trip to the hospital, even in an ambulance, as I was well on my way.’
‘And Barney?’
‘Mum was so much calmer once Maria arrived, and she’d apparently been quite stressed at the thought of going into hospital, so the next time she opted to have a home birth anyway.’
‘Was your dad there again?’
A sad smile crossed his face. ‘Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’
‘And you?’
‘Oh God, no. I was over at a friend’s. Mum had had a few Braxton Hicks and it completely freaked me out! I didn’t want to be anywhere near any of it.’
‘Wimp.’
‘Utterly. Although if it redeems me at all, I did help the gamekeeper’s wife, Kiera, when she gave birth.’
‘Did you?’ I asked, impressed now.
‘Well. Not at the business end. Maria’s daughter, Gail’s taken over this area now and Kiera had already called her when her waters broke.
She couldn’t get hold of Doug. He was over in a part of the estate where the signal is pretty non-existent.
We’d told him to leave that area for the time being, but he’s of the ilk that likes to do a job properly. ’
‘Not something that’s always that easy to find these days.’
‘Exactly. Anyway, I was heading out to a meeting, driving past their cottage and heard this blood-curdling scream!’
‘I’m surprised you didn’t drive faster going by your last experience.’
‘Very funny. To be honest, it didn’t occur to me she might be having the baby! I banged on the door and Kiera managed to answer it and say that the baby was coming. I told her I’d call an ambulance but she said there wasn’t time and if Gail didn’t get there soon, I’d be delivering it.’
‘What did you do?’ I was now hooked.
‘Did my best to look calm, collected and not entirely freaked out and helped her through to the sitting room. I honestly had no idea what I was doing but got her to lie down and be as comfortable as she could be, given the circumstances. I heard a car outside just as Kiera let out another scream, cursing her husband for not being there. She’d grabbed my hand as she did so and I can tell you, I was cursing him too! ’ He flexed his hand.
‘I hope you didn’t complain about that when there was a woman going through a hell of a lot more pain than you!’
He chuckled. ‘I did not.’
‘Good choice.’
‘Gail came in – it had been her car I’d heard – and she got on with things and put me to work being both the breathing coach and the punching bag and told me not to complain about either.’
‘I’m liking Gail more and more.’
He laughed. ‘Yeah. I think you would.’
‘And did everything go OK?’
‘It did, thank God. A bouncing baby boy who had clearly inherited his lungs from his mother.’ Edward mimed clearing his ear and I laughed.
‘Aww, that’s lovely. I hope they named him Edward!’
He chuckled back. ‘No.’ His cheeks flushed a little as he tilted his head away, apparently glancing for the waitress.
‘What is it?’
‘What’s what?’
‘There’s something. I don’t know what, but you’ve gone all coy.’
‘I have not,’ he blustered. ‘I do not do coy.’
The waitress brought our coffees, placed them on the table and left us alone.
I sat straighter. ‘What is it?’
He faced me down but I held his gaze.
‘Oh God, you’re annoying,’ he burst out finally, laughter threading his words. ‘Fine. Jack’s middle name is Edward. There. Happy?’
I beamed. ‘Ecstatic. Awwww! That’s so sweet. What a hero.’
‘And that,’ he said, pointing his teaspoon at me, ‘is exactly why I didn’t tell you.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I said, making no attempt to hide the grin I was now sporting.