by Rosie Clarke
‘I’d planned on taking you out somewhere…’
‘Tomorrow perhaps,’ Sally said and looked surprised as he handed her what looked like a card. ‘What is this?’
‘Rachel Craven gave it to me,’ Ben said. ‘I think your friends are planning a little surprise for you, Sally.’
Sally opened the cream envelope and looked at the pretty card inside. ‘Oh, Rachel, Beth and Maggie want to take me to dinner on Friday evening…’
‘Yes, I thought it was something like that,’ Ben said and placed an affectionate hand on her swollen belly as she stood up. ‘I expect it will be a little party with presents for the baby.’
‘That is so lovely…’ For a moment, Sally’s eyes watered, because she was so lucky. Before she’d started to work at Harpers, she’d been lonely, but now she had friends, a wonderful husband and she was carrying their child: a child that would belong to her and Ben, theirs to love and cherish always. Sally would never abandon her baby to the unforgiving care of nuns, as she’d been by the mother she couldn’t remember. She felt so full of emotion that the tears hovered and she dashed them away.
‘You shouldn’t cry,’ Ben said softly and his arms surrounded her. ‘I love you so much, Sally Harper.’
‘I know – I love you, too,’ she said and turned to kiss him. ‘I’m glad we’re staying in tonight.’ Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. ‘I wouldn’t mind an early night…’
‘You’re a wanton woman, Sally Harper,’ he said and smiled as she laughed and went through to the kitchen to check on their meal, because she was a little too far advanced in her pregnancy for passionate lovemaking. ‘Is Mrs Hills working out all right then?’
Sally had been reluctant to let anyone into their home, but Ben had insisted she had help to clean and cook, to make sure she ate properly on the days when he wasn’t with her at lunch. She was still going in to Harpers some mornings, but with the birth of their baby imminent, he didn’t want her left alone too long.
‘She’s a treasure,’ Sally admitted. ‘You were right, Ben. I couldn’t manage to look after things – I can’t even bend down to cut my toenails at the moment.’
‘I’ll do them for you,’ he offered instantly, ‘Whatever you want, my darling. I’m here for you.’
‘I know,’ she said and then gasped. ‘Oh, he kicked me, that’s the fourth time today. I’ll be black and blue inside before he’s done.’
‘He is impatient to join us,’ Ben said and smiled as she placed a hand tenderly on her large bump. Sally glowed from head to toe, her pregnancy suiting her more as the months passed and she neared her time, though she now suffered a lot of backache. ‘Did the doctor say when he could be born?’
‘It might be tomorrow or two weeks,’ Sally said. ‘Babies tend to do it their way and come when they’re ready, especially the first.’
Ben nodded. Sally was healthy and carrying their baby as well as she did everything else, but he would be happier when the birth was over and he knew she was safe.
‘That is so beautiful,’ Sally said as she unwrapped the delicate shawl that Rachel had made for her. It was made of white woven wool and edged with fine lace and completely different to the one Marlene had made for her. ‘I shall use it for his christening.’
‘So sure it will be a boy?’ Maggie teased.
‘It couldn’t be anything else – he kicks so much, he’s going to be a footballer,’ Sally said. She smiled round at her friends. ‘You’ve all given me lovely things and I’m so grateful, because you made them and that takes love and time, so I shall treasure every one.’
Beth had made a coat, bonnet, bootees and mittens in white. Maggie had knitted a pleated dress in white two-ply wool in a very lacy pattern that must have taken hours of work. Sally’s eyes filled with tears of happiness, because she’d never expected that she would ever have such friends.
‘I like knitting,’ Maggie told her, ‘especially if it is a difficult pattern – it’s fun and I don’t go out every night.’ Maggie went to her first-aid classes, meetings of the Women’s Movement once a month and on Sundays she met either Tim Burrows or had tea with Becky Stockbridge. On only rare occasions did she go to a theatre with Rachel and sometimes Minnie.
‘I like to knit when I get time,’ Beth said. ‘Fred goes to the pub twice a week and I usually settle with a book and some knitting. I just do plain and pearl stitches; Maggie has done all sorts.’
‘Where is Minnie this evening?’ Sally asked. ‘Didn’t you ask her to come too?’
‘Well, we wondered if we should,’ Rachel said, ‘but she told us she was going out with a friend, to dinner I think…’
‘Really?’ Sally was surprised. ‘I didn’t know Minnie had friends who would invite her to dinner…’
‘No, she doesn’t – or didn’t, as far as I knew,’ Rachel said and smiled. ‘I have a feeling it is a man, but she didn’t say and I didn’t like to ask.’
‘No!’ Sally laughed. ‘How lovely – do you know who?’
‘I have no idea…’ Rachel said. ‘I think there may have been someone years ago, but I don’t know anything about him.’
‘I think she met this friend again quite recently,’ Maggie said, making them all look at her attentively. She looked mysterious and shook her head. ‘No, I shouldn’t tell you, because it isn’t my place – Minnie will tell you when she is ready.’
‘Yes, but how do you know?’ Rachel asked, frowning.
‘Because a little bird told me,’ Maggie said and laughed. ‘No, I really can’t tell you, it isn’t my secret. I know because someone whispered in my ear and she ought not to have done…’
Rachel and Beth stared at her. ‘You mean Becky Stockbridge, don’t you?’
‘My lips are sealed,’ Maggie said, but the laughter was in her eyes. ‘Don’t you dare tell Minnie I said anything.’
‘Well, I never…’ Rachel looked thoughtful. ‘I saw her talking to Mr Stockbridge at the store the other day and she was laughing. I thought how much younger she looked, but I didn’t guess.’
‘Well, he told me to bring her to tea. He wanted a gown made for Becky’s eighteenth birthday in October and asked me to get her measurements without telling her why. He intends to have a little party for her… but I think it was partly an excuse to talk to Minnie…’
‘Goodness!’ Rachel said, genuinely astonished.
‘Becky is a lucky girl,’ Beth said. ‘You’re lucky too, Maggie, having a friend like Becky.’ She shook her head in wonder. ‘If you’re right about Minnie and Mr Stockbridge that is lovely, because Minnie will be happy again.’
‘I think she is,’ Rachel said and smiled. ‘So that’s where all the flowers came from.’ She looked at Maggie. ‘So, what other secrets did your friend tell you?’ she asked curiously. ‘What do you two get up to?’ Her eyes gently teased Maggie.
‘Becky and I get on so well,’ Maggie said. ‘Becky is learning shorthand so that she can become a secretary but she would make a wonderful nurse. She is so good at first aid, but she says her father would never allow it. He loves her, but he can be quite strict.’
‘He is lenient compared to many fathers,’ Rachel assured her and looked up as the waiter hovered. ‘Now, are we all having a pudding…?’
‘Yes, please,’ Maggie said, perusing the menu.
Beth was looking at Sally, who had suddenly clutched at herself. ‘What’s wrong, love – are you in pain?’
‘I’ve had a persistent backache all day,’ Sally said, frowning. ‘I’m sorry, but I think I have to go home. You should stay and finish your meal…’ She rose a little unsteadily to her feet and then gave a little cry. ‘Oh! I think something’s happening. I think my waters have broken. I don’t think I have time to get home and summon the midwife we’d booked; can you get me a taxi please? I need to get to the hospital…’
Rachel had sent a waiter for a taxi, paid the bill and told Beth and Maggie to stop and finish their meal, but they both refused and so they all piled int
o the taxi with Sally, Maggie sitting on the little pulldown seat that faced the others as the car rushed them to the London Hospital. Ben had booked a first-class midwife and a special doctor to attend the birth of their child, which she’d chosen to have at home. However, it was happening at least a week sooner than they’d expected and the nearest hospital was a better option for a baby in a hurry to be born.
For Sally it was a blur of pain mixed with laughter and the reassuring smiles and touches of her friends’ hands as they helped her in and out of the taxi, her pains getting closer and closer together. Somehow Rachel made a wheelchair appear and Sally was pushed into the labour ward with her friends clustering round her. There, Rachel took charge and Beth and Maggie were banished to the waiting area with instructions to telephone Ben and tell him he was about to be a father.
Then the pain took over and Sally suddenly found herself screaming as her body fought to push the new life into the world. She was conscious of Rachel there by her side, holding her hand, smiling and encouraging her, and then, briefly Ben. The nursing sister, outraged by his appearance in her maternity ward, banished him as soon as she entered the room, telling him he should go home and wait until he was summoned. He went reluctantly, because she was a formidable woman and reminded him of her strict rules of no men in the ward during the birth, but Rachel refused to budge. She urged Ben to leave, telling him they would ring him as soon as it was over and he went with a last reluctant look over his shoulder and an angry glare from the midwife. It was Rachel who sat by Sally’s side as her ordeal intensified, her hand that Sally crushed when the pain became too bad and she who whispered into Sally’s ear and made her laugh and then cry as the pain twisted and turned until she almost felt she couldn’t bear it; then, with a whoosh of blood and fluid, a scream from Sally and a cry of joy and triumph from Rachel, her child was born in the early hours of the morning.
‘You’ve got a beautiful little girl,’ Rachel said. ‘Oh, Sally, she is lovely – and absolutely perfect. All her fingers and toes are there.’
Suddenly, they were both crying with relief and the sheer joy of seeing the beautiful child, alive and well.
‘Thank you,’ Sally gasped to the nurses and to Rachel. She gripped her friend’s arm. ‘Tell Ben – tell him we have a lovely little girl.’
Sally slept then, worn out by her ordeal. When she awoke, it was morning and the sun was shining in at the window. She’d been moved to a small private room and she was alone. The door opened and a young nurse entered.
‘Ah, Mrs Harper,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you’re awake. Baby is waiting for a feed and then your husband wants to see you.’
‘Ben is here?’ Sally smiled. She was still a little weary but happy. Tears were on her cheeks as a nurse put the child into her arms and told her what to do. Watching with tender pride as the baby took her feed. She looked at the nurse shyly. ‘Will you ask my husband to come in please? He should see this.’
The young nurse glanced over her shoulder. ‘Sister will have my guts for garters if she knows,’ she said with a conspiratorial whisper. ‘She doesn’t know he’s here, but he turned up and I didn’t have the heart to send him away – just for a few minutes then…’
‘We won’t tell her you let him in,’ Sally said and the nurse giggled and went off to send Ben into the small room.
‘Sally darling,’ Ben said, placing a huge bunch of roses beside her bed on the little table. ‘What a clever girl you are.’ He was smiling, relieved, looking at her with love and pride and, as the baby finished feeding, Sally let him take the baby and nurse her, treasuring the look in his eyes as something she would hold inside for the rest of her life. ‘She is so wonderful… look at her little hands and those eyes…’
‘Shall we call her Jenny, after your sister, but spelled with a y?’ she asked and Ben nodded. ‘Jenny Beatrice Harper…’
‘Lovely idea, darling. She is beautiful like her mother,’ Ben whispered emotion making his voice husky. ‘My little Jenny…’
Jenny Beatrice Harper had been born. They had a daughter to carry on the store after them, but perhaps next time she would give Ben the son she knew every man wanted.
‘I’m sorry it all happened so suddenly. It wasn’t as we’d planned – me at home with the private midwife and doctor, Mrs Hills and you…’
‘Perhaps it’s just as well,’ he said and looked at her with love and pride. ‘We’ve got her all the sooner – and the midwife says she will come for a few days when you come home, Sally.’
Sally’s eyelids felt heavy. She was almost falling asleep as sister came bustling into the ward and took the child from Ben’s arms, ordering him from the room.
‘You will leave now, Mr Harper. Our mother needs to rest – you may return this evening – during visiting hours.’
Sally saw Ben wink at her as he was almost thrust from the room. Sister was bustling about and spoke sharply to the young nurse when she returned to take charge of the baby. Sally wanted to protest that it was their fault not the nurse’s, but the weariness stole over her and she fell asleep, a smile curving her lips.
Ben Harper had fallen in love for the third time in his life as he looked into the brilliant blue eyes of his child. Sally had been so sure it was a boy, but as far as Ben was concerned nothing could be more wonderful than the exquisite creature that looked up at him from her gossamer shawl. Her hair was fine and dark but already curling over her ears and her face was pink and perfect, none of the awful redness that some newborn babies were reputed to have. Ben hadn’t actually ever seen a newborn before, but he was certain no child had ever been this perfect. Her eyes had been so knowing as they looked up at him, as if she knew that she already had him curled around her little finger – and such tiny little fingers they were, but all there and everything as it should be.
How could he ever have doubted it? Sally always took everything in her stride, so why would she give birth to a less than perfect child? Ben grinned as he moved about his apartment that afternoon. How empty it seemed without Sally! She’d turned all their careful plans upside down by giving birth early. It was so like her to go swanning off to dinner with her friends and end up presenting him with his first child at four o’clock in the morning. A nice relaxed home birth would have been so much better for her and he’d arranged for her to have the best care.
He’d poured himself a large brandy as soon as he got back to the flat and drunk it straight down. God; that was nerve-wracking, even though he hadn’t been in the hospital during the birth. The taxi ride to the hospital after Maggie’s phone call had him on thorns and then that dragon of a nurse had thrown him out before he could tell Sally how much he loved her. God, she had a face like a wet week in November! If Sally hadn’t looked so tired, he might have argued with her, told her how ridiculous it was that he couldn’t be with his wife when she needed him, but he’d let her throw him out to save his wife any stress. The rule that men were not allowed at a birth seemed ridiculous to Ben. He’d wanted to be there, to help Sally through the pain, but there was no arguing with the dragon sister!
It hadn’t stopped him returning later that morning, though – and that young nurse had been a sport, letting him into the little private room he’d paid for while Sally was feeding their baby. He knew she’d be in trouble for that and he made a mental note to make sure she hadn’t lost her job over it. If, by chance, the demon sister had got her dismissed, Ben decided he would take her on at Harpers. He’d thought once or twice they ought to have a medical presence in case of illness. It was an idea to consider…
He wasn’t sure he could go through the agony of not knowing what was happening to Sally again; he’d been terrified she might die or would lose the baby and be devastated by her loss. No, he didn’t think he could stand the agony of imagining her in pain and stress, even to get the son and heir most men wanted to carry on their empire – but Jenny Beatrice would be perfectly capable of doing that, of course she would, because look at her parents and aunt.
<
br /> He downed his brandy and lit the cigar he’d been saving for the occasion. He didn’t really care for them, preferring his Passing Clouds cigarettes, but it was what men did when a child was born, so he smoked half of it before stubbing it out. Ben just couldn’t stop smiling as he paced the floor, unable to relax.
He was a father. Sally was his wife and Harpers was doing well. What more could any man want? Ben couldn’t think of a thing. A feeling of unease crept over him suddenly – when things were so good, something had to go wrong. It was Sod’s law and Ben knew how swiftly tragedy could strike.
He wished that his sister Jenni was here to talk sense to him. She would tell him to grab hold of his happiness and not let the doubts in, but that niggle at the back of his neck would not let go. Jumping up, he telephoned the hospital. A rather grumpy-sounding nurse answered.
‘Yes, maternity ward, how may I help you?’
‘I just wanted to know – are my wife and daughter all right?’
‘Who is speaking?’
‘Ben Harper…’
‘Just one moment, Mr Harper…’
The seconds seemed like hours until she returned, sounding even more grumpy.
‘Sister says they are both fine. Mrs Harper is asleep and baby has taken her second feed.’
‘Oh, that’s good, thank you.’ Ben replaced the telephone receiver and laughed out loud. What a fool he was, doubting because everything was too perfect. He would stop worrying and send his sister Jenni a telegram telling her the news.
19
Ben stared at the man in disbelief as he delivered his ultimatum. The builders had agreed their price and stripped out all the walls and knocked the rooms into one big space and now, a couple of days later, they were demanding more money.
‘What do you mean you want an extra three thousand or you walk off the job?’ he asked. ‘We agreed a price for the whole job and I’m not prepared to pay more.’