Positively Yours

by Amanda Hearty

  Beth was shocked, she looked huge. How could she possibly last until September? she wondered. But, as if she read Beth’s mind, the girl explained her gigantic bump.

  ‘You see, I’m big because we’re expecting twins! And as twins can be born premature I’m doing this early ante-natal class in case they end up coming early.’ Erin smiled and sat back down.

  Beth gazed at her. She’d thought her own bump was getting big, and she only had eight weeks to go. This poor girl had much longer, yet looked like the Titanic.

  ‘Congratulations! Wow! Twins. You’re brave!’ said Beth to Erin.

  ‘Oh thanks! Yes, it was such a surprise, but it’s been a real blessing,’ said Erin, looking at her husband and taking his hand. He beamed back at her, and as he passed her a glass of water Beth could see they were deeply in love. It looked as if the twins would have great parents.

  Once the introductions were over the class began. The midwife explained how each week they would be learning about the different aspects of childbirth: keeping well and active before the birth, how the labour ward worked, pain relief, and what to expect once the baby was born. Beth was fascinated. She cringed a bit when the nurse started reminding the women that they should be doing their pelvic-floor exercises. It wasn’t something she wanted her dad to hear about, but William didn’t seem fazed at all.

  ‘God, it’s all coming back to me now,’ he said. ‘I’ll never forget how many holy medals your mother wore when we arrived here to have you. She didn’t care about her clothes, make-up or the pain, all she wanted was to make sure you arrived safe and sound. I swear a newborn baby has never been blessed with more holy water then you! Your new Babygro was soaked! I’ll tell you the full story when the class is over.’

  Beth choked up. Her dad had never told her that. All these years she had always felt awkward asking him about her mum, because she hadn’t wanted to upset him. Now she wondered if he had been longing to tell these stories to her.

  The rest of the class passed quickly enough, and Beth was surprised how much she learnt. The nurse was an excellent teacher – she made light of many worries or concerns, but at the same time never failed to remind them how the baby was their main priority. Their birth plans would be overruled if the baby’s health and well-being required it. She seemed to direct this remark at the overbearing American couple, who were insistent that their plan would be adhered to, no matter what.

  ‘We don’t want any drugs administered, and under no circumstances is my wife having a Caesarean. We believe in a natural birth.’

  ‘We all believe in a natural birth,’ interrupted the nurse. ‘But if that baby gets into distress then it’s the surgical ward for you, I’m afraid.’ The couple looked very put out, but still couldn’t resist confiding the rest of their crazy plans.

  ‘And we’re going to have a CD player in our room so we can play our special CD for him. Our baby will be born into the sound of dawn in the rainforest. It will teach him about the earth, and how we are all part of the circle of life.’

  Grace started laughing. ‘Are they for real?’ she asked Beth.

  Beth prayed she wouldn’t go into labour on the same day as them, she could see they were going to be trouble.

  ‘Listen,’ said Nurse Egan, looking frustrated and just plain annoyed, ‘this is a maternity hospital. We want to deliver healthy babies, and if your plan can work around a healthy birth, then that’s great, but I must remind you, in this hospital the babies come first. Now we have run over time, so I will let you all go, but don’t forget to eat well, practise your exercises, relax and get lots of rest. In a matter of weeks you won’t know what sleep is, so stock up on it now! Take care, and I’ll see you all next Friday.’

  Beth and William walked out of the classroom, past the ward of expectant mums – who were all pacing the corridors, trying to go into labour – and through reception, which was filled with flower bouquet deliveries and exhausted-looking fathers trying to get five minutes’ peace.

  ‘Thanks so much for coming,’ Beth said to her dad. ‘I’d better head back to work now, but you’re so good to have come all this way just to be at my side.’ She kissed him.

  ‘Back to work? Sure, it’s half past four on a Friday, why would you be doing that? Let’s go for dinner. It could become our Friday traditional – the ante-natal class followed by dinner.’

  Beth didn’t know what to do. She never took time off work unless it was an emergency or for her doctor’s appointments. She was about to turn down the dinner offer, but then she thought of what the nurse had said about taking plenty of rest now. She also knew Tom couldn’t complain if she decided to take the rest of the day off; after all, it was his baby she was going to the classes for.

  ‘OK, let’s do it!’ said Beth impulsively. ‘Where do you want to go?’

  ‘Roly’s,’ said her dad. And so they headed off to one of Dublin’s most famous restaurants, all the while laughing about the hippy couple’s forest-themed baby music!

  41

  ‘FOR GOD’S SAKE! I thought you said this was the best car seat on the market?’ Grace Miller shouted at her husband, as she attempted for the fourth time to fit a baby seat into her car. Ethan was also struggling to get an identical one into his vehicle.

  ‘We should never have bought two copies of the same thing without testing it out first,’ Grace said, as she looked at hers. It was jammed half-way up the back of her front passenger seat.

  ‘Well, all the women in work said this make was the best, and we needed one each. Let’s look at the instructions again,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Thank God we decided to fit them before the baby came!’ Grace laughed. ‘It’s like rocket science. I know they say you can remove them easily so you can take your child anywhere in its seat, but I swear if I manage to get this in it’s staying there for ever!’

  ‘Yeah, sure!’ said Ethan, his head deep in the car-seat booklet. ‘I bet in a few weeks’ time you’ll be one of those women with a latte in one hand, and a baby in its car seat in the other as you walk around Dundrum shopping centre.’

  Grace laughed, but even as he spoke she still couldn’t visualize herself with a baby. Grace was overdue, but even so found it hard to believe that the baby and motherhood could arrive at any moment.

  ‘OK, I think I see what we’ve been doing wrong,’ announced Ethan, as he took both the car seats out and placed them on the ground. ‘Let’s start again.’

  Grace smiled as she sat down on their porch and watched her husband, who was intent on getting everything right. From assembling the cot to painting the nursery, Ethan was already a real hands-on father. Grace knew how hard it had been for him in the last few weeks, coming to terms with the fact that he was now going to be living in Ireland for the foreseeable future. But he was taking it well, and being positive about raising his child in a foreign country. All this only furthered Grace’s belief that she really was so lucky to be married to him.

  Ethan’s company had been delighted to hear he was staying on in Ireland. His friend Alex would run the main office in San Diego, while Ethan would look after Dublin, and any further European offices. But having a job still didn’t make the transition easy: it was a lot of change for Ethan. He also really missed Coco, and wanted him to come over as soon as possible. Grace had been nervous about how their dog would settle in Ireland, and how he would react to having a baby in the house, so they had decided to defer having him sent over for a few more months, until well after the baby was born. That way Grace could put her worries about Coco and Ireland on the long finger.

  Ethan and Grace had also been looking for a new home. Now that they planned to live here, they both wanted to buy somewhere nice, yet near enough to Grace’s brothers and Patsy. Grace had also found the last few weeks hard. Herself and Ethan had never fought, but the decision to stay in Ireland had rocked their life, and then they had both had different views about where in Dublin to live and what kind of house their baby should grow up in. Although, now, the
biggest bone of contention was the baby name. Ethan still couldn’t understand why Grace refused to find out what sex the baby was.

  ‘But everyone in America does it,’ he had argued on more than one occasion.

  ‘I know, but it’s different over here,’ she had replied each time.

  ‘But how can we make a shortlist of baby names when we don’t even know the sex? It’s madness! And such a waste of time when we could easily find out.’

  But Grace held strong and refused to find out. Of course the suspense was killing her, and she had different theories every day as to the sex.

  ‘The baby was kicking like mad last night when we were watching the Transformers DVD,’ Grace had told their doctor the week before. ‘I mean that’s such a guys’ film, surely it has to be a boy?’

  ‘That’s not a very scientific way of uncovering your baby’s sex,’ the doctor had replied, trying not to laugh.

  But his refusal to confirm whether it was a boy or girl hadn’t deterred Grace. She was convinced she could guess by its behaviour.

  ‘Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the baby was making a real racket yesterday when I was watching Oprah,’ she told Ethan, as he finally got the hang of the car seats. ‘So it must be a girl,’ Grace continued.

  ‘Or it could be a boy, and he was protesting at having to watch that girly crap,’ Ethan replied, leaving Grace lost for words.

  Maybe it is a boy, she thought.

  ‘Anyway, if it is a little boy, how about Zac?’ Ethan said.

  ‘As in Zac from Saved by the Bell?’ replied Grace, smiling.

  ‘No!’ he shouted. ‘Zac’s a strong name, a cool name.’

  ‘It’s too American,’ she replied automatically.

  ‘What?’ he said, staring at his wife. ‘I’m American, you know? And this baby will be, too.’

  ‘That’s not what I meant. Well it is, but not in a bad way. It’s just not the kind of name that could blend in in Ireland.’

  ‘OK, well if it’s a girl then Cailin would be perfect. It’s totally Irish,’ said Ethan, proud of himself.

  ‘Oh no,’ she said, putting her foot down. ‘That’s too Irish.’

  Ethan huffed. ‘Well, what names do you like today? I know it changes on an hourly basis.’

  ‘Yes, I’m finding it hard to make a decision, but it’s a big responsibility. I mean you name that child Egbert or Mercedes and they are doomed for life. Anyway, I like Molly.’

  ‘Molly Miller?’ Ethan laughed. ‘No.’

  ‘OK, what about Sophie?’

  ‘I had a cousin called Sophie and she was horrible. No, not Sophie.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake! We’re never going to agree,’ said Grace, deflated.

  ‘Listen, let’s just get these seats into the cars fast, then we’ll have time to get dinner ready.’

  It was a hot July day, and since it was such nice weather Grace and Ethan had invited Patsy, Colm and Aidan to a barbecue in their house that evening. Grace had been so busy all week setting up her new website and getting her first orders that she hadn’t had time to see her family. Her business was already getting off the ground, and it was so exciting, but she knew her mum was dying to see her, and Ethan was looking forward to chatting to the boys, who were helping him get settled into Irish male life.

  ‘There’ll be no more talking about your Irish roots, or wearing your jumpers hanging over your shoulders. It just makes you look like a tourist,’ Colm had said frankly the week before. ‘You’re living here properly now, so we’ll need to get you used to pints, rugby and chipper chips.’

  Ethan had realized that he had a lot to learn.

  Grace had intended to get the house all tidy, clean and organized before the barbecue, but her massive bump just got in the way of everything. Instead she went in, lay down on the couch and decided to let Ethan worry about preparing the food. She ran her hand over her belly, and once again wondered when the baby was going to appear.

  ‘You should drink some castor oil,’ announced Patsy, as Grace and her huge bump opened the door to her mum and two brothers. They were all laden down with boxes of food.

  ‘Mum, this baby will come when it’s ready. And why do you have all this food? We have steaks, burgers and salad for everyone.’

  ‘This food isn’t for tonight. It’s for the next few days, to help you keep up your strength before the baby arrives.’

  ‘Strength? Mum, with this amount of food in it, the baby will come out looking like a sumo wrestler.’

  Colm laughed, but stopped when Patsy hit him over the head with a frozen garlic bread.

  ‘Anyway, come on in,’ said Grace. ‘This could be the last meal we have together before the baby arrives!’

  ‘Please God,’ said Aidan. ‘I swear if we have to spend any more meals discussing baby names, baby books, or baby equipment I will pass out with boredom.’

  ‘Aidan Slattery, that’s your niece or nephew you are talking about! How dare you?’ said Patsy, annoyed.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ whispered Grace to her brother. ‘I promise there’ll be no more baby-name discussions. We can’t decide, so I suspect we’ll just have to let the baby choose when it gets old enough!’

  The barbecue went well, and while the boys tried to persuade Ethan what rugby club he should now pledge allegiance too, Patsy indulged in a little too much wine, and told Grace how amazing the night of her birth had been.

  ‘Don’t let your brothers know, but there’s nothing quite like the birth of your first child. It’s always a little bit special, a little more exciting.’

  ‘I heard that,’ said Colm, as he poured himself some more wine.

  Ethan would have loved a glass of white wine himself, but Grace had had him under strict instructions not to have any alcohol for the last two weeks. ‘In case I go into labour and need you to be sober enough to drive,’ she kept saying.

  ‘Oh, it’s all so exciting. I just wish your father was here to see his first grandchild.’

  Grace held her mum’s hand.

  ‘Dad would be so proud of you, Mum. I know how hard it’s been without him, but you’ve been so strong and so active. You haven’t let grief get the better of you.’

  ‘That’s because I have all of you, Grace. When you are a mother you don’t have time to indulge in your own problems, you have to keep going for the family. For better or worse you need to push your own worries aside and be strong for your children. Without you all I would have curled up and died, but thank God I have my three children. That’s why I’ve always put a little too much pressure on you to have kids. Yes, when you have them your life isn’t your own any more! But it’s better, fuller, and gives you strength you never knew you had. You’ll learn about all this soon, Grace. Very soon!’

  Grace smiled. She had never credited her mum with being so insightful. She realized you were never too old to learn something new about your mother.

  Two hours later, and they’d decided to move indoors as the sun had gone in and there was a slight chill in the air. As her family drank the end of the wine, Grace had her own craving.

  ‘God, I’d love a Frosty cappuccino now,’ she announced.

  ‘A what?’ asked her mum.

  ‘Oh it’s a type of coffee with ice cream. We had the best coffee house beside us in San Diego. I couldn’t start a morning without one of their treats. Starbucks actually do a version similar to the Frosty. I’d really love one now. I might go and get one,’ said Grace.

  ‘Good luck finding a coffee shop open at this time of night in Ireland,’ said Colm sarcastically.

  Grace looked at the clock and knew her brother was right. Ireland just didn’t have the round-the-clock services that the States did. It was another thing Grace missed.

  ‘That’s so annoying. I would love one now,’ whined Grace.

  Suddenly Aidan sat up. ‘Well, have you got ice cream in your fridge?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ confirmed Ethan.

  ‘And what about Coca-Cola, or 7 Up?’
Aidan asked.

  ‘Yeah, we have lots of fizzy drinks,’ said Ethan. He disapproved of them, but Grace had been craving them lately so he had turned a blind eye to the fridge being stocked high with them.

  ‘Well, I don’t know how to make a Frosty cappuccino, but would you like Dad’s special treat? An ice-cream float?’

  ‘Oh my God, yes!’ screamed Grace. She had forgotten all about her dad’s speciality. On a Sunday evening when they’d finished their roast and vegetables, Teddy would take out five large glasses and fill them up with a mix of ice cream and whatever fizzy drink they had in stock. Sometimes it was Club Orange, some days it was Coke. Grace hadn’t thought about those treats in a long time.

  ‘Dad was great at making them,’ she said.

  Colm smiled. ‘You’ll have to pass on the family tradition to your baby. The Slattery ice-cream floats will be tasted by a new generation.’

  Grace vowed to make them for her little one.

  Ten minutes later they were all sipping on the frothy drinks.

  ‘Yum,’ said Grace and Colm at the same time.

  ‘Oh, that’s cold,’ said Patsy, but she was smiling. She felt like her Teddy was right there with them.

  Soon Grace’s legs and back were aching, and she had to go to bed.

  ‘We’ll head home, pet,’ said her mum as she hugged her. ‘Now, sleep well, and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  Grace kissed her mum and brothers and was just heading up the stairs when Patsy came running up them.

  ‘I almost forgot to bless you and the baby,’ she said as she pulled a small bottle of holy water from her handbag. She doused Grace and her belly in the liquid.

  ‘God bless you and keep you both safe,’ Patsy said, before going back down the stairs and leaving the house.

  Grace smiled, she felt a little more protected already.

  Two hours later Grace sat on the bathroom floor crying.

  ‘Curse Aidan and those ice-cream floats, my stomach is in bits. I think I got a chill into it from the ice cream. I don’t feel well,’ she wailed, as Ethan rubbed her back.