A Baby for the Village Doctor

by Abigail Gordon

  When they were back home, he was going to ask her to marry him again. He should have done it before, instead of being so set on waiting until he saw how things were when the baby came. That was how it ought to be, making their vows to each other once more as a separate thing that wasn’t tied in with anything else except their love for each other. And if he was taking too much for granted after this wonderful day together, at least Georgina would know how much he still adored her.

  As he stepped onto the escalator he heard a crash and someone screamed above, then a voice bellowed, ‘Phone for an ambulance and tell them the lady’s pregnant, due any time by the looks of it!’ As his happy bubble burst around him Ben was leaping up the moving staircase in sick dismay, praying that it wasn’t Georgina who was being described, yet knowing it would be too big a coincidence if it wasn’t.

  At the worst he was expecting to find that she’d gone into premature labour, but it was worse than that, much worse. She was lying very still on her side, curled up in a foetal position with her arms folded protectively across her stomach. Two security men were frantically removing the large wooden display case that she was lying under.

  He was by her side in a flash, telling them in a voice as cold as steel, ‘I’m her husband and I’m a doctor. Tell me what happened.’

  There was a woman weeping silently just a foot away and she said chokingly, ‘Your wife saved our little boy. He’d seen the toys inside and was pulling at the handle. She saw what was about to happen and dragged him away as it started to fall, but didn’t have time to protect herself. We are so sorry.’

  Not as much as I am, he thought grimly as he registered a faint pulse and shallow breathing. He was shuddering to think what might have happened to the baby. But for the moment she was his main concern. He could see a deep gash on the side of her head and her legs were bleeding from cuts that the glass in the doors of the display unit had made when they had shattered. Any other injuries would not be immediately visible until she was examined in Accident and Emergency at St Gabriel’s, which was the nearest hospital as they were so close to home.

  The ambulance had been mercifully quick and after they’d taken Georgina down in the lift on a stretcher they were soon away with sirens blaring.

  Ben had caught a glimpse of the child who’d innocently been the cause of the accident clinging to his mother’s hand, and with a pang thought how much like Jamie he was. Had this been another reason why Georgina had felt impelled to leave the safety of Willowmere? he’d thought incredulously. And now that they’d made peace at their son’s grave was he going to lose her?

  Ian Sefton was waiting for them when the stretcher was wheeled into A and E with Ben granite-faced beside it, and he said, ‘We’ve got a team standing by for Georgina but first I’m going to check the baby’s heartbeat on the foetal monitor to make sure it’s OK.’ It was with great relief he announced, ‘We have a heartbeat. That’s the good news. But it’s not quite as strong as I would like it to be.’

  Ben nodded with hope hard to come by as he gazed at Georgina still and bloodstained on the bed.

  ‘I’ll be standing by in case I have to do a Caesarean section,’ the gynaecologist said, and Ben thought that was how he would be if it was someone else’s wife and child, but on this occasion he was on the receiving end and was numb with the horror of what was happening to their hopes and dreams.

  He’d had high blood pressure on his mind while Georgina had been carrying the baby because it had happened once before, or had thought that some other medical problem might put her and the baby at risk, but from out of nowhere had come a different kind of danger, horrifying and unexpected.

  A child in danger had been something that she hadn’t been able to ignore and she was paying the price. Why, oh, why, hadn’t he told her how much he loved her before this?

  * * *

  Severe concussion, broken ribs and deep cuts, especially to the head and legs, were the total of Georgina’s injuries, and one of the doctors commented to another that if she hadn’t been carrying so much extra weight, it might have been a lot worse.

  She still hadn’t regained consciousness when she started to haemorrhage, and then it was panic stations with the theatre on standby for the Caesarean section that Ian Sefton had anticipated.

  At just past midnight Arran Allardyce came into the world, and Ben wept at the nature of his coming, even though from all appearances he was a lusty infant. His mother, on the other hand, still hadn’t surfaced from the accident and the anaesthetic she’d been given during the operation, and was not aware of his arrival. As Ben kept a vigil by her bedside, with the baby sleeping peacefully beside them, he was willing Georgina to come back to them so that he could tell her how much he loved her.

  As dawn brightened the night sky Georgina opened her eyes, removed the hand that he’d been holding out of his clasp and passed it slowly over her stomach. Ben saw that her eyes were awash with tears,

  ‘I’m so sorry, Ben,’ she said weakly, ‘but I had to save the boy. Did you see how much he looked like Jamie?’ Tears were rolling down her cheeks now as she begged, ‘Can you forgive me for losing another of our children?’

  ‘I can forgive you anything,’ he said softly, ‘because I love you more than life itself. And what’s this about losing the baby? If you turn your head sideways, you will see young Arran Allardyce, strong and healthy despite a slightly early entrance into the world, sleeping peacefully beside you, Georgina, unharmed and totally beautiful, just like his mother.’

  Her smile was brighter than the sun that would soon be in the sky as she cried joyfully, ‘So Jamie has a brother! How absolutely perfect, and how wonderful that you still love me as much as I love you.

  ‘That day when we were having the picnic and you said that the second chance we’d been given wasn’t working, it made me realise just how much I wanted it to, and ever since then I’ve been afraid to plan a future in which we were together in every sense of the word in case you were right.’

  ‘Will you marry me when you’ve recovered from all the dreadful things that have happened to you during the last twenty-four hours?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Those will be forgotten when I hold our baby in my arms,’ she told him, ‘and, yes, of course I’ll marry you, Ben. I’ve always felt as if I was still your wife in any case, but now we can start living again, waking up each morning in the same bed, you and I together like it used to be, with Arran close by in the nursery.’

  Ian Sefton was approaching and when he reached the bedside, he said whimsically, ‘You had us all worried for a while, Georgina. I’d almost decided I would have to emigrate if I let anything happen to you and the baby. This husband of yours was all scrubbed up ready to take over if I put a foot wrong.’

  ‘Were you really?’ she asked Ben.

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ he replied. ‘There was too much at stake.’

  ‘So, do I get an invitation to the wedding for a job well done?’ the gynaecologist asked.

  Ben was smiling. ‘You do indeed,’ he told him, and then added in a more serious manner, ‘You were the best, Ian. We can’t thank you enough.’

  When he’d gone, Ben lifted little Arran carefully out of his crib and placed him in his mother’s arms, and as he gazed at them in that special moment it seemed as if it had been a good idea after all to buy The Meadows. There would be no more confusion in their minds regarding the future. They were a family again.

  That same evening they were visited by another family, one that might not have been so complete if it hadn’t been for Georgina’s instinctive reaction at the motorway services.

  When the parents and their small son stood beside her bed the young one’s father said, ‘So what do you say to the lady for saving you from being hurt by the display case, Dominic?’

  ‘Thank you for saving me,’ he told her in a voice that indicated he’d been rehearsing the little speech.

  ‘And?’ his mother prompted, placing a gift-wrapped parcel
in his hands.

  ‘This is for your baby,’ he said shyly. ‘What are you going to call him?’

  ‘We’re going to call him Arran,’ she told him gently, ‘and I’m sure he will love what is inside this present when he is a bit older.’ Then she turned to his parents. ‘You didn’t have to do this. I’m just so pleased that Dominic wasn’t hurt. We lost our first child in an accident and I wouldn’t wish that sort of grief on anyone.’

  When they’d gone, she asked Ben, ‘Were you angry when you knew what I’d done?’

  ‘Horrified, yes, but not angry.’ he told her softly. ‘It would have been amazing if you hadn’t stepped in, being the nearest to him. In those kind of moments there is no time for thinking, do I, or don’t I? One just goes ahead and does it.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  IT WAS an occasion they would long remember when Ben brought Georgina and baby Arran home to the cottage in Partridge Lane and in the hours that followed it was as if the whole village was sharing their happiness.

  And there was more to come. Ben still had a couple of pleasant surprises for her but felt they could wait for a day or two. The injuries she’d received from the broken glass were healing satisfactorily and the hospital, as was usually the case, was leaving the fractured ribs to heal of their own accord. But she was still a little weak from the trauma that had followed when Ian Sefton had been forced to do a Caesarean baby to save its life and hers.

  Arran was fine. Every time they observed him they rejoiced. Ben was taking time off from work to be there during the first important days of his son’s life and so that Georgina could rest as she recovered from the accident and her delivery.

  It was an irksome situation when she was raring to be back to her usual fitness but, acknowledging that it was a necessary procedure, she had to be content with welcoming a constant stream of wellwishers from the comfort of the sofa while Ben took charge of everything else.

  On the second afternoon of her return Clare was one of the callers and after she’d held the baby reverently and then handed him back to his watchful father she said, ‘I know it’s pushing it, Georgina, you’ve only been home a couple of days, but it’s the May Queen crowning on Saturday. Would you feel up to doing the ceremony?’

  ‘I’d love to,’ she told her. ‘I’m feeling stronger all the time and as long as Ben and Arran are there beside me I’ll be fine. How are the preparations going?’

  ‘All right so far,’ was the reply, ‘and now that you’re prepared to do the crowning, my last worry is sorted. My mum has finished the dresses, the music is organised and refreshments are in the capable hands of our Hollyhocks friends.’

  ‘And how are you amongst all this activity?’ Georgina asked, not overlooking that the woman sitting opposite was coping with a very worrying health problem, as well as the May Queen arrangements.

  ‘Not so bad,’ she replied. ‘The chemo took it out of me but, as I’ve said before, my mother gives me lots of support. It has taken something like this to bring us together. I’ve always been very self-sufficient and capable, and now that I’m sick and apprehensive of what lies ahead, it’s bringing out the best in her.’

  ‘We have something to ask of you, Clare, haven’t we, Ben?’ Georgina said, and he nodded.

  ‘Will you be Arran’s godmother?’

  She watched Clare’s eyes fill with tears and knew what was coming next.

  ‘I can’t think of anything I would love more,’ she choked, ‘but a godmother needs to be someone there for him long term and I can’t promise that, can I, in my present state?’

  ‘I know how much Georgina values you as a friend,’ Ben told her, ‘and with your courage and spirit, you’ll be an inspiration to our son. So do please say yes.’

  She was smiling now. ‘How can I say anything else after that? Thanks for being so kind. You can count me in.’

  The godfather slot had always belonged to Nicholas, and when Ben had rung him from the hospital to say that the baby had arrived and that Georgina was doing as well as could be expected, he’d said, ‘Don’t give me that hospital jargon, Ben. What do you mean?’

  He’d been appalled when Ben had told him the full story, but had perked up when he’d discovered that there was a second role they wanted him to play in their lives, that of best man, and the knowledge that the two people he cared for most were going to remarry had left him on cloud nine.

  It was drizzling out of a grey sky when the villagers awoke on Saturday morning and as Georgina gave Arran his first feed of the day, with Ben propped up against the pillows beside her, she wailed, ‘I don’t believe it. We’ve had nothing but sunshine for days and just look out there!’

  But by the middle of the morning the rain had gone and blue skies had appeared, with the sun shining extra brightly as if to compensate for its earlier absence, and all was hustle and bustle around the village green.

  A wooden platform had been erected at one end, with steps leading up to it for the crowning ceremony, and in the middle of the green was the maypole with its bright ribbons wrapped tightly around it until such time as they were needed.

  On the dot of twelve Willowmere’s own brass band began to lead the May Day procession around the village with the vicar at the front and the Queen and her attendants walking sedately behind in their pretty long dresses.

  They arrived at the village green at exactly twelve o’clock and the first people Georgina saw when she and Ben took their positions on the platform, with Arran cradled safely in his father’s arms, were the Quarmbys, with Dennis puffed out with pride as he saw his daughter approach the rostrum and Christine, pale but very happy by his side.

  When Georgina looked away from them, Pollyanna was waving from her place in the Queen’s retinue, and James, another proud father, wasn’t far away from her with Jolyon by his side. But she thought contentedly that the proudest father of all was standing beside her with his son in his arms and all was well with her world.

  The crowning of the May Queen and the festivities that had followed it were over and in the early evening Georgina and Ben were pushing the pram homewards when he said, ‘That was a great day, but I’ve got something that could top that or, on the other hand, maybe it won’t.’

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, eyes bright with curiosity as they walked the last hundred yards to the cottage.

  ‘You’ll find out tomorrow, not before,’ he said teasingly, with his dark eyes adoring her, and she pulled a face but didn’t pursue it.

  The sale of The Meadows had been completed a couple of days ago.

  He was in possession of the keys to the lovely old house and was eager to see Georgina’s reaction, all the time wondering if he should have let her have a say in where they were going to bring up Arran. But at that time he hadn’t known what direction they were going in and had faced the fact that he might have to resell it or live there alone.

  It was Nicholas offering to buy the London house that had made up his mind for him and he had yet to find out what Georgina would think of that.

  ‘So do you want us to walk or drive to where we’re going?’ he questioned the next morning when they’d finished breakfast and Arran had been fed.

  ‘It depends how far,’ she replied.

  ‘It’s a mile or so.’

  ‘Then we’ll walk. May I ask in what direction?’

  ‘Towards the Timmins farm. Baby Rhianna is home now and thriving.’

  She was smiling. ‘We’re not going on a comparing-babies outing, are we?’

  ‘We can call on them if you like but, no, that isn’t where we’re going. You’ll just have to wait and see.’

  The house was aptly named, Ben thought as they walked past fields where sheep and cattle grazed on the greenest grass he’d ever seen, and as they turned a bend on the lane on which it stood it was there, silent and empty, waiting for them.

  ‘I wonder who’s bought The Meadows,’ Georgina said regretfully. ‘Maggie Timmins has heard that it’s a townie.’

&n
bsp; ‘She’s heard right.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, you can hardly call me a country boy, can you?’

  ‘You!’ she cried. ‘You, Ben! You’ve bought The Meadows for us.’

  He held out his hand and on the flat of his palm were the keys.

  ‘I hope you’re going to like it.’

  ‘Like it!’ she whooped, throwing her arms around him. ‘I’ve always loved this house. When, though? How? What made you…?’ she gasped excitedly.

  ‘It was when I knew that I couldn’t live without you any more.’

  Her excitement was lessening. ‘But can we afford two houses? What about our house in the square?’

  ‘It’s sold.’

  ‘And you never consulted me!’

  ‘I didn’t need to. Someone you love is going to live there and we’ll be able to visit whenever we want.’

  She was bewildered. ‘Who?’

  ‘Who is your favourite man…next to me?’

  Light was dawning. ‘Nicholas?’

  ‘Yes. My young brother wants a house in London and is only too pleased to buy ours, so Jamie won’t be all alone there while we’re up here. He’ll have his uncle Nick close by.’

  Her radiance was back as she held him close and told him. ‘I can live with that, Ben.’

  He jangled the keys in front of her again. ‘So now can we go inside?’

  ‘Just try and stop me,’ she told him as she picked Arran up out of the pram and cradled him in her arms.

  As they walked around the spacious rooms and took in the views from every window Ben was jubilant. They were going to be so happy in this place, he thought. Their son was going to grow up in the beautiful Cheshire countryside in one of the nicest family homes around.