City Lives

by Patricia Scanlan

‘Yes, dear,’ she said soothingly.

  ‘Just sit down and don’t move,’ he ordered. ‘I’ll be home in a minute.’

  ‘Yes, pet,’ Devlin murmured, as she rinsed her cup and saucer and wiped down the counter tops. A contraction caught her by surprise and she gave a little gasp.

  ‘Are you all right? Are you all right?’ Luke was roaring down the phone.

  ‘Luke. Calm down. I’m fine. Now drive carefully. I don’t want to be widowed, thank you very much.’

  ‘Right, right. I’m on my way.’

  He was ashen-faced when he got home. ‘Now stay calm,’ he urged. ‘I’ll get your case. Now where is it?’

  ‘Right here beside me on the sofa, dear,’ Devlin said calmly.

  ‘Oh! Oh! I didn’t see it.’ He grabbed the handle. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

  ‘Luke,’ Devlin reached up and took his face in her hands. ‘Please calm down. I’m fine. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, let’s enjoy it.’

  ‘I’m just worried, that’s all. I’d like to get you to the hospital.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m calm.’

  ‘Good,’ she said.

  Five hours later the contractions were coming hot and heavy. Devlin groaned as the pain engulfed her and gripped Luke’s hand. ‘Did I say let’s enjoy it,’ she panted. ‘I was talking through my hat.’

  ‘You’re doing fine,’ he soothed. She looked up into his loving eyes and thought how different it all was this time. How wonderful it was to have his love and support. Lynn’s birth had been such a sad, painful, lonely one.

  ‘I love you, Luke,’ she whispered.

  ‘Still?’ he whispered back as another contraction hit hard. They were much quicker than they’d been with Lynn and much stronger, nevertheless she was shocked when her midwife said cheerfully, ‘Devlin, you’re nine centimetres dilated. You’re ready to deliver. Just push now when I tell you. Your gynae is on the way.’

  ‘So soon,’ Devlin panted.

  ‘Well, it is your second. It can happen like that, lucky girl, it will be all over soon.’

  The birth itself was a blur, so intense was the pain. Even Luke seemed to fade from her as all her energies were concentrated on this last final effort. It was just her and the baby and her body doing what it had been preparing for, for the last nine months.

  ‘It’s a boy, Devlin. It’s a boy.’ Luke was beside himself with excitement as he squeezed her hand so hard she thought he was going to crush it.

  ‘Is he all right? Is he all right?’ Devlin asked as her baby slithered out of her after one last push.

  ‘He’s fine, he’s fine. He’s got five fingers and five toes and a head.’ Luke was babbling.

  ‘He’s grand, Devlin, everything’s perfect.’ The midwife laughed as Devlin heard a lusty roar, and her son was placed in her arms minutes later.

  Her heart felt as if it would burst as she looked down at the tiny face and felt the tiny hand grasp her little finger. He had a head of jet-black hair and a doty little nose and a perfect mouth.

  ‘Oh Luke,’ she whispered. ‘Oh Luke, here, hold your son!’

  Reverently Luke took the minute bundle and then Devlin did cry, so moved was she at the sight of her big strong husband cradling his firstborn with tears streaming down his face.

  It was the most perfect moment of her life. It was incomparable.

  Later, back in her room, they held each other tightly. In his small crib, their son slept peacefully.

  ‘This is almost the best day of my life,’ Luke said.

  ‘Why, what was the best?’ Devlin was surprised.

  ‘Don’t you know? The best day of my life was the day you told me you loved me for the first time.’ Luke kissed the tip of her nose.

  ‘Oh, Luke.’ Devlin could hardly speak.

  ‘Don’t start crying again,’ he warned.

  ‘I won’t.’ She gulped.

  But she did cry again when Caroline and Maggie arrived the following day, Caroline having driven over from Galway specially to see her.

  ‘Oh girls! Oh girls!’ Devlin blubbered.

  ‘He’s beautiful.’ Maggie bawled. ‘And I was right. It was a boy,’ she added smugly, despite her tears.

  ‘Oh Devlin, he’s a dote,’ Caroline sniffled.

  ‘Oh my God!’ exclaimed Luke in mock horror as he walked through the door right at that moment and saw the three weeping women.

  ‘Three of them at it. I can’t hack this. I surrender.’ They laughed.

  ‘Six hours in labour, you lucky wagon,’ Maggie said enviously. ‘I was ten with Shona.’

  ‘It felt like ten. It was tough at the end.’ Devlin grinned, relieved beyond measure that the whole ordeal was over. She was still on a high.

  ‘Luke, take a photo of the three of us, will you?’ she asked her proud, beaming husband.

  It was a perfect photograph. Devlin held her baby with Caroline on one side of the bed and Maggie on the other, with their arms around her and melon-slice grins on all their faces.

  It was the best of times.

  THE END

  Patricia Scanlan

  A Time for Friends

  When are the boundaries of friendship pushed too far, and when is it time to stop flying over oceans for someone who wouldn’t jump over a puddle for you? There comes a time when Hilary Hammond has to make that call.

  Hilary and Colette O’Mahony have been friends since childhood, but when irrepressible Jonathan Harpur breezes into Hilary’s life and goes into business with her, Colette is not best pleased.

  After their first encounter Colette thinks he’s a ‘pushy upstart’ while he thinks she’s ‘a snobby little diva’. And so the battle lines are drawn and Hilary is bang in the middle.

  But as the years roll by and each of them is faced with difficult times and tough decisions, one thing is clear . . . to have a friend you must be a friend.

  And that’s when Hilary discovers that sometimes your best friend can be your greatest enemy . . .

  Patricia Scanlan

  With All My Love

  On a crystal clear Mediterranean day, Briony McAllister sits playing with her four-year-old daughter, Katie, while she waits for her mother, Valerie, to join them. Valerie has recently moved to a picturesque town in southern Spain to finally leave behind her turbulent past and find a peace that has always eluded her. Briony has no idea that in a few moments’ time her relationship with her mother will change irrevocably.

  As Katie plays, Briony pulls from her bag an old photo album, found in a box in her mother’s new home. As she begins to study the faded photos, a letter falls to the ground. It is addressed to her.

  My Darling Briony, it begins. As Briony reads the words with mounting shock, realisation dawns. Her mother lied to her about what happened with her beloved grandmother Tessa all those years ago – and denied Briony that most precious of relationships, the type of relationship Valerie now enjoys with Katie.

  The lives of three generations of women are set to change forever as the past is revisited and the truth unfolds through the undelivered letters Tessa wrote to Briony over the years. Secrets, lies, betrayals and sacrifices – the complex bonds between mothers, daughters and granddaughters are intricately explored as Patricia Scanlan takes us into the hearts and homes of a family at war.