‘Excuse the mess,’ Marsha said dumping her shopping on one of the cupboards. ‘I’d like to say it’s because of this reason or that, but the truth is it pretty much always looks like this, but when you’ve got kids what else can you expect, and I see you’re expecting yourself. Is it your first?’
‘Yes, my first . . and my last.’
‘Yeah, I know what you mean, but somehow after it’s born you forget how uncomfortable it all was, and before you know it you’re thinking about having another one. Tea or coffee?’
‘Oh tea please, I used to be a coffee person but since . .’ and I looked down at my stomach, ‘I’ve started drinking tea all the time.’
‘I was liquorish, couldn’t get enough of the stuff. Absolutely hated it before I got pregnant, and can’t abide it again now, but the whole time during I was totally addicted, both times. So is there a husband, partner . . ?’
‘No just me, no husband or anyone.’
‘Yeah I sort of figured.’ Marsha said putting a spoonful of coffee in one of the mugs she’d got out, and a tea bag in the other one.
‘How?’ I said. ‘What gave it away?’
‘I don’t know exactly, the lack of furniture yesterday when you moved in, the fact there was a lot of pink stuff, that chap who was helping you going home early.’ Then catching herself and realising how that must have sounded, quickly added, ‘I’m not nosey, really I’m not, sorry. It’s just that the kids were watching through the window and had a running commentary on everything and everyone going in or out. That and the fact Gill might have mentioned it, you’re a friend of hers right?’
‘Well we worked together.’
‘Do I detect that you’re not a member of her fan club?’
‘No she’s very nice.’
Marsha studied my face in an expectant sort of way waiting for me to say more. Then when I didn’t she said ‘I wasn’t a fan myself’ and continued to watch for my reaction.
‘Oh God neither was I, she drove me bonkers.’ I gushed.
‘Me too. I’m so glad you said that.’
I knew I liked Marsha. From that moment on after confessing our mutual dislike of Gill we chatted away as if we’d known each other for years. By the time I left, an hour or so later, I knew loads about her. She was about four years give or take older than me, she’d been married for five years and had probably got pregnant on her honeymoon, ‘at least that’s how it felt, it was straight away anyway’, she said. Her husband Mac, their surname was McTeever and everyone called him Mac, was a graphic designer who sometimes worked away, as he was now. Her two children were Harry, four, and Flora, three, and she moaned about how much work they were to look after, and how much mess they made, but you could tell she loved it, and them, and was in her element living amid all this chaos.
I told her a bit about me and about the baby being an accident after a one night stand but I didn’t linger over any specific details about the twonk or anything like that, or that I might be having twins. I was still feeling really anxious about that and reasoned that as long as I didn’t talk about it, it still might not be happening. I told her about my job at Fishers and my dread mother, and how I planned to redecorate the flat as soon as possible to get rid of all that peachness, which sort of bought us back to where we’d started and how annoying Gill was.
‘Let me know when you want to start painting, I’m sure Mac will be only too glad to help, at least I’ll tell him he will be anyway. We’ve got ladders and things, and you’re welcome to borrow whatever you need.’
‘Thanks that’d be great, and when you get the chance why don’t you come upstairs for a look round and a coffee at mine sometime.’
‘I might hold you to that. So you all ready for the big event?’ She said looking at my roundness.
‘No not ready at all, my mum said she’d help with some of the stuff I’d need, but as yet I have zero baby stuff.’
‘Well, as you might imagine I have tons of it and I’m not going to need it anymore, that’s it for me. I’ve got one of each, the full set, and I’ve no desire to do it all again, not any time soon anyway, and definitely not while we’re still living here. So if any of its of any use to you . . there’s a cot and a baby bath and bags and bags full of baby clothes, you get given a lot when you’ve just had a baby, especially the first one.’
‘I couldn’t . . I mean don’t you have family or friends . .’
‘Not really, either their kids are older than mine, or they’re not even thinking about kids yet, and besides you’re a friend aren’t you? And you’d be doing me a favour really, there’s hardly enough room for all of us, never mind a mountain of the kids stuff that they don’t need any more. You should see the state of my bedroom.’
‘I feel awkward, I mean we’ve only just met and . .’
‘Forget about that, I’ve a feeling we’re going to be good friends Judy, don’t know why I just do, and I wasn’t joking about the state of my bedroom come and see for yourself.’
I followed her out of the kitchen, across the minefield living room and into her bedroom. She hadn’t been joking. In the corner was a cot piled high with baby equipment and tied up bin bags that presumably were full of baby clothes, and that wasn’t all, on either side of the cot were more bags and boxes of baby toys and a baby’s car seat. The ‘mountain of stuff’ took up so much room that there was barely enough room to get to the bed on one side.
‘See what I mean. I don’t have the heart to just throw it away, especially when there’s nothing wrong with any of it, in fact some of the clothes have only been worn once, I told you, you get given a lot, and the baby grows out of it before you know it, especially in that first few months. When you do get around to buying baby clothes or if anyone asks you what you want, tell them you want three month and over stuff. Trust me you’ll be swamped with new born clothes, then the baby hits that three month mark and suddenly you’ve got nothing that fits anymore.’
‘Well if you’re sure.’
‘I’m sure. It’ll be nice getting my bedroom back for a while, until the next lot starts piling up again anyway, and I’m glad it’s all going to someone who needs it and can make good use of it.’
‘Thanks Marsha, this will help a lot.’ I said giving her a hug.
‘I’ll give you a hand carrying some of it upstairs tonight if you like after Harry and Flora have gone to bed, no point trying now with them running around, that’d be suicide . . or homicide. And I’ll volunteer Mac to bring the bigger stuff up on the weekend, he’s supposed to be back on Friday. You got time for another cuppa?’
‘No I really should get on, I was on my way to the shop when I ran into you.’
‘Okay, if you’re sure. But stop by anytime, don’t wait for a special invite or all that polite stuff, I can’t be doing with all that, if you’re fed up or fancy a chat just come down.’
‘Thanks, and same goes for you.’
‘Oh and by the way, don’t bother with the shop up the road, unless you’re really desperate, they’ve got hardly anything to choose from, and what they have got is quite often out of date, so watch out for that, and they charge almost double what Sainsbury’s charge. I never go in there, not if I can help it.’
‘Okay.’
I left and instead of walking to the shop up the road, after what Marsha had said, got in the car to go to town. How lucky am I, I thought to myself gloating over my good fortune, I loved my new flat, and I loved my new neighbours, and I’d just been given a load of baby stuff. Things were definitely looking up.
17
30th September – Week 17 + 5 Days
Being at work was a lot more comfortable these days, everyone knew I was pregnant so I didn’t have to watch what I said so much, and the builders had left a couple of weeks ago so there was no chance I’d run into Matt the twonk, not only was that a huge relief but it meant I could go to the loo anytime I felt like it.
Almost everyone had settled into their new allotted places, and with the arc
hive filing being shipped off to Sheffield, and the sales department all now working downstairs in their new office, the rest of us had a bit more breathing space. Well I was crammed in with Martin, that wasn’t so brilliant, and I missed the all day every day banter of being in a large open plan office, and Martin was . . well Martin, a middle aged, boring, accountant. The highlight of his life was watching X Factor on a Saturday night. But all in all work wasn’t so bad at the moment.
Shirley was still clucking over me like a mother hen and one morning had bought in some things for the baby that she’d knitted herself, which was really nice of her. It was a baby cardigan that she called a matinee jacket, no idea why, a matching pair of booties, a knitted hat, sorry make that baby bonnet, and a baby blanket all in the same god awful fluorescent glow-in-the-dark salmon pink colour, evidently she’d decided it was going to be a girl. I hated it all, and even if I did have a girl there’s no way I’d ever inflict this stuff on her, I mean the baby probably wouldn’t care or know any different, but I would, and I’d be the one who had to look at it all the time. Still though it was nice of her to go to all that trouble and I was touched by her generosity, even if not by her taste in baby clothes.
It had only been a few days but already I felt more at home in the new flat than I’d ever felt in the old one. Marsha had been as good as her word and together we’d lugged four bags of baby clothes upstairs on Sunday night. I hadn’t opened the bags or looked at any of the things inside, I just dumped them in the second bedroom and closed the door. But on Tuesday night after receiving Shirley’s lurid offering that morning, my curiosity got the better of me and I sat on the floor going through everything. There seemed to be an awful lot of stuff and I wondered if I’d really need it all, but then it occurred to me if I was having twins I would, in fact I might need even more. If only I knew for sure, but the second scan that would decide my fate was still another three weeks away.
James had come round on Wednesday, to make sure I was alright. He didn’t stay long as he was on his way to watch the local football team play a home game. Another reason why he was never going to be more than a friend, I definitely didn’t need another footballing boyfriend. Done that, been there, and wasn’t ever doing it again. I almost started thinking ‘still it was nice of him to think of me’ but then I remembered he had his own reasons for playing Mr Nice Guy, and was probably still on his brownie point mission. I’m not cynical, honestly I’m not, just realistic. I mean did you ever meet a guy, any guy, that did anything that wasn’t in some way going to be of benefit to himself? No I thought not, neither have I.
Shelley rang as I was leaving work saying she and Nick were on their way to look at a flat round the corner from Kingsley Road, and if it was alright with me they’d stop in for a coffee afterwards. Of course I said yes, it had been a couple of weeks since I’d seen her, the longest time we’d gone without seeing each other since those heady days back in secondary school, and I’d missed her. We’d phoned each other but what with her being so preoccupied and besotted with Nick, and me moving, we hadn’t found the time to actually meet up.
I dumped my bag when I got in and kicked off my shoes that were killing. Who knew that even your feet got bigger when you got pregnant. I didn’t get it at all, I mean I was having a baby so yes my stomach would get bigger, and yes my boobs would inflate a size or two, but my feet! Why? Why would having a baby make any difference to my feet, and my ankles they’d got a bit fatter as well. Was there any bit of me that wasn’t pregnant?
This would be the first time I’d seen Nick since he and Shelley had met that night at Zee Zee’s, and I was keen to see them together, you know see how they behaved together, or more to the point how he was with her. I’d heard Shelley’s version of events of course, ad nauseam, but I needed to see for myself if her love sick befuddled brain was right about him, and if he felt about her the same way she felt about him, and I could only do that by watching them together.
Half an hour later the doorbell went and I let them in. Shelley gushed her hello eager to see my new flat. Nick was politely quiet and obviously feeling a bit awkward. I mean I was Shelley’s best friend so it was kind of important that he and I got on, and that I liked him. Although probably the truth was that Shelley was way past the point of ‘like me like my friends’ and was more ‘I don’t care what everyone thinks, I love him no matter what’, but maybe he didn’t know that, so I had to give him credit for trying.
I showed them round my new spacious abode, explaining how I was going to get rid of all the peach as soon as possible, and we ended up in the kitchen while I waited for the kettle to boil.
‘So what was it like, any good?’ I said referring to the flat they’d just been to look at.
‘It was alright, I don’t know about that bathroom though, and the smaller bedroom was a bit too small don’t you think? You’d never get a double in there.’ Shelley said to Nick.
‘That’s a shame, it would have been brilliant if you were just round the corner.’ I said pouring the now boiled water into the mugs. ‘Have you looked at many others?’
‘A few, really we want somewhere like this.’ Shelley said looking round her. ‘You were dead lucky finding this place.’
I handed Nick his coffee and he muttered a subdued ‘Thanks’.
‘So what else have you been up to, anything exciting?’ I asked. Looking at both of them.
‘I took Nick to see Mum and Dad last Sunday.’ Shelley answered.
‘And I took Shelley to meet my Mum on Monday night.’ Nick said.
‘How did it go, did your Mum like her? Don’t you just hate having to introduce your friends to your parents, never mind anyone who’s a bit more than a friend.’ I joked to Nick.
‘No my Mum really liked Shelley, they got on fine together didn’t you Shell?’
So he could talk. It wasn’t exactly Einstein’s theory of relativity, but it was talking.
‘And what about your Mum and Dad Shell, did they like Nick?’
‘My Mum loved him, Dad was his usual over protective, are you going to turn out to be good enough for my daughter self to begin with. But it went alright. What about you, how’s it going with the twonk’s brother?’
‘Still just friends. He helped me move, organised a van and everything. But nothing else to report.’
‘And he still likes you?’
‘Yes, I guess so.’
‘You guess? Have you seen him again since last weekend?’
‘Yes he came round for a while on Wednesday.’
‘And?’
‘And nothing.’
‘Honestly Judy you drive me mad sometimes, here’s this bloke, he obviously likes you a lot, he’s not bothered that you’re pregnant and that’s not nothing is it, and you’re . . you’re dithering about, wondering whether you like him or not.’
‘I do like him.’
‘Well then, why don’t you go out with him, properly I mean?’
‘For one thing I’m not sure I like him that way . . you know that way. And for another he’s the twonk’s brother, his twin brother.’
‘Yeah that’s a bit of an obstacle I grant you, but still . .’
‘A bit of an obstacle! It’s way more than that. But even if he wasn’t I’m not going out with someone, pregnant or not, just so I can have a boyfriend.’
‘Yeah okay.’ Shelley sighed.
We drank our coffee, well I had tea, in an uncomfortable silence until Nick said ‘What colour are you going to have?’
‘Um sorry?’
‘When you redecorate, what colour are you doing it?’
‘Not sure, I keep changing my mind. One day it’s going to be cream everywhere, or maybe white, and the next I think I’ll have a different colour in every room, or cream in the living room and colours in the others, almost anything really just so long as it’s not peach.’
‘I think the cream would be nice.’ Shelley said.
‘Mmm maybe.’
‘What about wallpa
per?’ Nick said getting the hang of the whole talking thing.
‘I could in the bedroom I suppose, but I’m not sure that I’d be any good at wallpapering.’
‘What about the other bedroom, the baby’s room, have you decided how you’re going to do that yet?’ Shelley said.
‘No, haven’t even thought about that. No point really, the baby will have to be in my room won’t it to begin with, and anyway I don’t know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl, so pink or blue I guess.’
‘Or lemon.’ Nick said. ‘My sister did their baby’s room lemon.’
‘I didn’t know you had a sister.’ I said.
‘Two I’ve got two.’
‘Older or younger?’
‘Both older.’ Nick said in a deflated sort of way.
‘That must have been rough, growing up with two older sisters.’
‘Yeah tell me about it.’
I made some more coffee for everyone, and tea again for me, and Nick began to relax a bit, telling us about his bossy older sisters and how sometimes he’d got his own back by being you’re average annoying little brother. Once he’d loosened up a bit and got over his ‘I’ve only just met you’ nerves, he was quite funny and easy to talk to.
I watched him with Shelley. He held her hand or was touching her arm throughout the whole visit, and he couldn’t stop looking at her, even when he was talking to me he was still mostly looking at Shelley and just glancing in my direction. But then Shelley had spent the whole time watching him. I satisfied myself that it was the real thing and that either he was an Oscar nominee calibre actor that had somehow missed his calling, or he was really in love with her.
After they’d gone I sighed to myself, you know like you do when you’ve just finished watching a really good film with the mandatory happy ending, I mean you know it’s all fiction, but you still sigh a bit enviously at the fairy tale ending. But this wasn’t fiction, this was real. I sighed again. Then I caught myself and remembered how crap all men were, even the nice ones. There was something wrong with every single one of them, you just didn’t always see their flaws straight away, but they were there alright.
39 Weeks Page 12