Another Glass of Champagne

by Jenny Kane

  ‘Not exactly the best role model for you, is he?’ Amy had taken to chatting to her bump, and from the constant tumble dryer-type movements of her fast-growing baby, she was convinced it was listening. ‘Perhaps he’ll be the godfather whose example is the one you learn not to follow. He’s very kind though. Mummy loves him very much and he is one of Daddy’s best friends, so I hope you’ll love him too. Although I should warn you that Uncle Jack is a bit hopeless; you’ll probably end up having to look after him!’

  Amy glanced at her watch. She had two hours until her guests were due to arrive. Thankful that Paul had talked her out of cooking, and was going to pick up a load of Marks and Spencer’s finest pre-prepared food, Amy hauled herself off the comfort of the sofa and waddled – there was no other word adequate to describe how she moved these days – towards the bathroom. A hot shower and a change into her cosiest maternity clothes and she’d feel much livelier.

  Rob and his wife Debbie arrived on the doorstep just as Kit and Phil walked up the drive behind them. Amy smiled to see that in both cases, the men carried wine, and the woman held an alternate soft drink so that there was something for Amy to enjoy as well as the non-pregnant members of the group.

  The ‘crikey, you’ve grown even more than when I saw you a few days ago,’ conversations had only just finished, and jackets were being hung in the hallway, when the doorbell rang again and Jack arrived.

  Engulfing Amy is one of his habitual giant hugs, Jack passed her a large cake tin. ‘I wasn’t sure what you were off eating, or if you were craving anything, so I made these. Bit of a mixture of things to appeal to all tastes.’

  Amy undid the lid, her eyes lighting up. ‘Thanks, Jack.’ She immediately picked out the top tiny cupcake from a mountain of others below. ‘What flavour is this one?’

  ‘Light lemon and poppy seed.’

  Amy popped into her mouth in one go. ‘Oh, wow, Jack! That was heavenly. Do you have a kitchen already, then?’

  ‘I sweet-talked the lady in the hotel kitchen, and she let me bake them in return for favours so far unspecified.’

  ‘You are shameless!’

  ‘This is true. The poor woman is doomed to be disappointed.’ Jack rescued the tin from Amy’s arms. ‘I was sort of thinking these would make a good pudding, or snacks for you over the next few days.’ He couldn’t help but laugh as Amy grabbed another two cakes and chewed them up. ‘You had any weird food cravings then?’

  ‘I’m currently eating an extra-large number of cheese scones, which I’ve more or less been mainlining for the past month – before that it was pizza. I can’t help wonder if I’ll ever want to eat either of them ever again after the birth.’

  He slapped her hand playfully as she took another cake. ‘This pregnancy lark making you peckish then?’

  Amy laughed. ‘Yep! Thanks, Jack, these are delicious. Do you want to take them through to the kitchen and give them to Paul before I eat them all? He’s in charge of the food tonight.’

  As the friends sat around Amy and Paul’s dining table, the seven of them squashed up against each other as the table wasn’t really equal to the task of supporting more than four people, Paul began to serve up the gorgeous-smelling spicy meatballs, potatoes wedges, and various side dishes. ‘Not really up to the standards you’re used to these days, Jack mate, but I didn’t want Amy stood in the kitchen.’

  Jack smiled, ‘Quite right.’ He took a large helping of sour cream from a nearby bowl. ‘And anyway, I love this type of food!’

  The evening soon relaxed into chatty conversation about the baby, the bookshop, and property renting. The food disappeared quickly, along with a couple of bottles of white wine and a pitcher of iced orange juice. Jack, who’d been gearing himself up to tell them all about his bistro plans but was wary of ruining such a great atmosphere, took a deep breath when, as he was helping Paul carry a jug of coffee, pot of tea, and Jack’s tin of mini cupcakes to the table, Phil asked him the inevitable question.

  ‘Come on then, Jack, we can all see why cooking appeals, and having had a sneaky taste of your cakes in the kitchen I can see you have talent in that area, but come clean, mate. Why are you here now? You had a good job in Kent, what happened this time? Running from a bloke by any chance?’

  An uncomfortable silence landed on the table until Kit dug her husband in the ribs and Amy and Jack exchanged glances.

  ‘It’s OK.’ Jack blew out an exhalation of air through his teeth. ‘Phil is right. Some of you know already, but yes, it was a bloke. Isn’t it always?’

  ‘Look, Jack, I’m sorry, I was only teasing, I didn’t mean...’

  ‘It’s OK, Phil.’ Knocking back the remainder of his glass of wine, Jack said, ‘Tell you what, fill up this glass and my coffee cup, and I’ll tell you the gory details.’

  Soon he had everyone laughing and rolling their eyes at his hopelessness to read the signs when it came to relationships. Sending himself up, Jack quickly slipped back into old habits, and was soon explaining himself in song lyrics. ‘Honestly, Deep Purple said it all in “California Jam”, when they went on about making mistakes again before you fall. If that isn’t me all over!

  ‘I loved working at Kennedy’s, but I didn’t like working for Gareth much. He was a bit of a bully – just a little more than you’d expect even a chef to be. I only ended up having sex with him out of anger – which I grant you is a crap excuse, but then I’ve had sex with people for less sensible reasons. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I discovered he’d fancied me all along.’

  ‘What are you like?’ Amy shook her head sadly, ‘I wish we could find you someone nice to share your life with.’

  Jack looked at his friends; they were all indicating their agreement with Amy. ‘You are good people, and after all I’ve put you through in the past, it’s remarkable that I’m even here with you now, but believe me, the world is better off with me being single. History has conclusively proven that I can’t handle a relationship, and that I am a destructive force in that area. My new life involves a new career, a new home, and no more men – although I’m keeping my old friends!’

  Amy, reminded of the mantra ‘New job, new home, new life’ that she’d played over and over in her head when she’d left her lonely days in Scotland behind her, felt tears gather in her eyes. ‘Oh, Jack, that’s so sad. You should be with someone.’

  Paul passed her a tissue quickly. ‘You OK, love?’

  Amy smiled through her tears, ‘Sorry, my bloody hormones are all over the place, but you should, Jack, you should have someone special.’

  Raising a glass to his friend, Jack said, ‘The single life is the best thing for me, and besides, I’m going to be far too busy to meet anyone worth meeting for ages.’

  ‘Does that mean you’ve found somewhere to turn into “Jack’s Bistro”?’ Rob passed the cake tin to Debbie, ‘Although I assume it won’t really be called “Jack’s Bistro”.’

  With butterflies rolling in his stomach, Jack swallowed hard. This was it; the time to come clean. ‘I have indeed, but no, it won’t be called Jack’s Bistro. I haven’t got a name sorted for it yet, to be honest.’

  ‘How exciting!’ Debbie immediately started firing potential restaurant names at them all. ‘Jack’s Nosh? The Gorgeous Cupcake Bistro?’

  As the influence of the wine they’d all drunk began to take hold, Jack found himself drowning in potential, increasingly silly restaurant names.

  ‘Bistro-mania...’

  ‘Pasta’n’Chips...’

  ‘Delicious Delights...’

  His face aching from laughing, Paul refilled Jack’s coffee cup. ‘So, once you’ve chosen from that list of most excellent restaurant names, when will your new place be ready to roll? In time for a party to wet our baby’s head I hope? Amy said she’d asked you.’

  Feeling as though he’d missed his moment to confess where his bistro was, Jack said, ‘Well, that all depends when Donahue Junior is due and if I am up and running by then, but as I
said to Amy, I would be absolutely delighted!’

  ‘Excellent!’ Amy clapped her hands excitedly, ‘Sometime early September for a party then.’

  ‘Oh, that’s perfect!’ Jack began to mentally plan what he might cook for them all. ‘I hope to open before the end of August, so I will keep whichever evening you desire free, and we can welcome the newcomer to our crew in style!’

  ‘And’, Kit added, ‘if all goes according to plan, then we’ll be celebrating the twins getting their A level results as well.’

  ‘Oh yes!’ Phil added, ‘and we should be celebrating your next novel launch, shouldn’t we, love?’

  Kit went pale. ‘Um, hopefully. Yes.’

  Not missing Kit’s discomfort, Jack broke in, ‘Well it looks as if I’ll be putting by a couple of magnums of champagne, rather than the odd glass by then!’

  ‘And,’ Amy chipped in, ‘let’s not forget that Peggy has her birthday in August as well!’

  At the mention of Peggy, Jack found it was his turn to blanch. ‘Well, I think I’d best stop messing about and order in an entire lorry full of the sparkly stuff in.’ He peered into his cooling cup of coffee. ‘Actually, guys, there is something I should tell you about the restaurant. The thing is...’

  Paul, who had been out in the kitchen, suddenly appeared holding a bottle of champagne and tapped the side of his glass theatrically with a spoon.

  ‘As we’re talking about celebrating the birth of our baby,’ he reached out a held his wife’s hand, ‘this seems the perfect opportunity for us to ask you all, Kit, Phil, Rob, Debbie, and of course you, Jack, if you’d be godparents to our little bundle when he or she comes along. Unofficial ones of course, as there’ll be no actual christening. That’ll be his or her choice when they’ve grown up.’

  ‘All of us?’ Rob was beaming.

  ‘Yes!’ Amy laughed, ‘I know convention states three godparents per child, but since when did any of us stick to convention?’

  With a pop of the cork, Paul began to fill some glasses. ‘To our child’s godparents. May you all lead him or her astray in your own special ways!’

  Jack’s head hit his pillow hard that night.

  ‘Amy’s child’s godfather!’ He was utterly delighted, but he was also worried. Will they still want me to be godfather when they find out how close my new place is to Pickwicks?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Saturday 18thJune

  ‘Oh, let’s have a look!’

  Megan placed a plate of steaming hot cheese scones on the café table alongside a latte glass full of peppermint tea, and peered over Amy’s shoulder at the scan photographs her friend was holding.

  ‘It’s incredible.’ She tilted her head to try and make out each individual limb of the tiny human on the grey photograph before her. ‘It’s so weird to think that we’re looking at a person. A tiny person who is right now tucked up safe and sound inside you!’

  ‘Tell me about it.’ Amy felt the nervous tension which accompanied her almost permanent indigestion swirl alongside her high-kicking baby.

  ‘You looking forward to it?’ Megan handed back the scan shot, before smiling. ‘Sorry, that was a silly question, of course you are!’

  ‘I am. I’m also nervous.’ Amy held her belly protectively. ‘I know the evidence is overwhelming, but I can’t quite get my head around the fact that this is really happening.’

  ‘I’m not surprised! I’d love children, but the idea of giving birth freaks me out big time. I haven’t even got my ears pierced as I don’t like pain!’

  Amy grinned at the wince Megan made. ‘Funnily enough, although I’m obviously concerned about having the baby, it isn’t the prospect of the birth that keeps me awake at night.’

  ‘It isn’t?’

  ‘No. That’s the easy part. It’s the being a mum bit that scares the hell out of me!’

  ‘Easy part?’ Megan looked incredulous. ‘Seriously?’

  Amy laughed at the waitress’s horrified expression. ‘Sure, the birth will be tough, but it’ll pass. Bringing up a child lasts for ever. And you only know if you’ve done it wrong when it’s too late, and you’ve already screwed your child up!’

  Seeing that Amy was genuinely worried, the waitress gave her a kind smile. ‘You’ll be amazing. You and Paul were born to have kids.’

  ‘Thanks, although it’ll be kid, not kids. It’s a miracle we’ve got this one on the way at our age. I’m pretty sure this little handful will be an only child.’

  Megan pointed across the café to where Kit was sitting. ‘Or maybe it’s twins, like Kit had! You positive there isn’t a second little person tucked in behind that one on the ultrasound pic?’

  ‘I feel big enough for triplets, let alone twins, but I’m assured there is only one in there. And thank goodness! No way could I cope with twins.’ Amy followed Megan’s gaze to where Kit sat in her corner. ‘Is Kit OK today? I’ve not seen her typing this morning. I didn’t sit with her on purpose because I thought she was working.’

  ‘Having an imagining day, she said. I guess writers do a lot of that.’

  ‘Well, when you top Kit’s coffee up, tell her she’s welcome to join me if she needs an imagination break.’

  Megan took a few steps towards Kit with her coffee jug in hand, before pivoting on the balls of her feet, and heading straight back to Amy again.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Amy frowned when she saw the concern on Megan’s face.

  ‘I think you should go and sit with Kit now.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, she’s crying.’

  ‘Kit?’ Amy was already offering tissues before an embarrassed Kit nodded an invitation to sit down. ‘Whatever is it?’ She took her friend gently by the shoulder. ‘This isn’t like you.’

  Angrily wiping her tears away, Kit shrugged. ‘That’s just it. I don’t feel like me, and I hate it. I hate this feeling, and what’s worse, I know why I feel like this. I have rationalised it all out in my mind, I know it has to happen, and yet I can’t seem to stop the glooms overtaking me every five minutes.’

  Although she’d listened carefully, Amy wasn’t sure what Kit was talking about. ‘So why do you feel like this, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  Kit smiled at the confused look on Amy’s face, ‘Sorry, hun. You came in for a rest, and all you’ve got is a friend surrounded by soggy tissues!’

  Relieved her friend had retained her self-deprecating sense of humour, Amy opened her mouth to reply, but instead of sympathy, a gasp of pain escaped her throat as she clutched her stomach.

  The writer sat bolt upright. ‘Amy? You alright?’

  Breathing more easily, Amy sat back in her seat, ‘Sorry about that. I’ve been getting Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of days now, and some of them are a bit sharp.’

  Kit grimaced. ‘You poor thing! I remember them hurting big time.’

  ‘I bet they were worse with two babies inside you.’

  Kit laughed. ‘I’ve no idea. I only had the twins. I don’t know how it feels to have one baby at a time.’

  ‘I hadn’t thought of that!’ Amy rubbed a hand gently over her bump, soothing away the last traces of the tightness that had swamped her so suddenly. ‘Now tell me, what’s going on with you then?’

  Kit, cross with herself for being so feeble, explained about her writer’s block, and how she was as sure as she could be that it was the imminent departure of her children that was at the root of the problem.

  ‘It’s so annoying. I hoped that if I could track down the issue that was blocking me I’d be alright, but as I was saying to Jack the other day, the block seems to have become a habit now, and I’ll be damned if I can shift it.’

  ‘Frustrating.’

  ‘To say the very least.’ Kit swivelled her laptop around so that Amy could see all she’d written that day.

  ‘It’s blank.’

  ‘And the annoying thing is that my head isn’t blank. It is teeming with every single word that is dying to hit the pag
e, but I can’t make it happen.’ Kit slammed down the screen. ‘Enough of that, I’m sure it’ll sort itself soon. How are you? Ready for the big day?’

  Amy pulled a face. ‘I was saying to Megan earlier; the birth bit is daunting, but I’m not nervous about that, it’s the...’

  ‘Bringing the child up bit?’

  ‘I knew you’d understand. I am terrified of what lies ahead.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Good?’ Amy frowned.

  ‘Yes. If you weren’t nervous then you wouldn’t be normal. You probably wouldn’t be such a good parent as I know you will be if you weren’t terrified.

  Amy smiled gratefully. ‘If I had the energy to lumber round to give you a hug, I would! Thanks, Kit!’

  The women raised their respective drinks in a toast to each other, as Amy said, ‘You know, if you want to beat the empty nest syndrome while the twins are off being trainee grown-ups, I’ll always be up for some help with childcare. Donahue Junior here is going to be your godchild after all.’

  She suddenly felt a new wave of doubt creep up on her. ‘This poor child is going to need all the expert help it can get! I haven’t even held a baby before!’

  ‘Neither had I before the twins. Honestly, you’ll be great. Instinct will take over, and once the antenatal classes start you’ll learn loads in a very short time.’

  ‘Thanks, Kit.’ Amy took a sip of peppermint tea. ‘I wish the classes started a bit earlier, though. Leaving them until the end of the seventh month seems pushing it awfully fine to me.’

  Just then, Helena came in through the front door, ready to start her shift, and waved across at her mum. Waving back, Kit leaned a little closer to Amy, whispering conspiratorially, ‘There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.’

  ‘Is it Jack?’

  ‘No, although I guess it’s sort of connected to him. Here’s the thing: Helena has a massive crush on Phil and Rob’s new assistant. Trouble is, I’m pretty sure the lad is gay. And Jack agrees with me. You’ve been there – what do I do?’