by Anne Bennett
However before the birth Barry came home one day in March with good news. He was just a fortnight away from his twentieth birthday and Stan had called him into the office because he had a proposal to put to him. Although Barry couldn’t officially finish his apprenticeship for another year, Stan had seen the chap in charge of the apprentices and he said that there was really no more he could teach Barry and that he was a good and conscientious worker and so Stan decided to finish his apprenticeship a year early. It needed the approval of the management, but the death of Matt who had worked for the firm meant that Barry was now the sole breadwinner and had glowing praise from his superiors, so they decided to stretch a point. And so from his birthday his wage would rise to £3 a week which had been what his father earned. The women were very pleased, particularly Angela who had been concerned at how they would manage financially when she had to give her job up at Maitland’s shop.
George was pleased at her news though he had to admit to himself that part of him had hoped that finances would ensure Angela stayed working for him, leaving Mary to care for the child. Now he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Not only was Angela a good worker, she was also like a ray of sunshine and he knew he would miss her greatly. But he didn’t betray his inner thoughts in any way and congratulated Angela and said to pass on his good wishes to Barry before going on to say, ‘You surprise me, though, for most employers I know of are not generally concerned with the welfare of workers unless it affects their ability to work hard and make them plenty of profit.’
‘I think that it’s Stan that made a difference,’ Angela said. ‘He was very fond of Matt and suffered alongside him when the boys were drowned, and when he saw how ill Matt was he was shocked and came to see him many times and sorted out the sick pay and everything. He felt guilty about Barry’s two brothers who were laid off as soon as they were through their apprenticeship.’
‘That’s what I mean,’ George said. ‘That’s common practice.’
Angela nodded. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But then those boys decided to try their hand in America and perished in the sea. It made me wonder if they would have been so keen to go if they were regularly employed. And if I thought that, I bet it crossed Stan’s mind too. He told Barry that his hands had been tied over that, but he would ensure it never happened to him, and now this news.’
‘I know. It’s almost unbelievable.’
‘Stan thinks it’s likely there’s going to be a war.’
‘A war?’ George repeated. ‘What gives him that idea?’
‘I asked Barry that and he said it’s because of all the unrest in Europe.’
‘There’s always upset in Europe,’ George said dismissively. ‘If we bothered about everyone we’d never be away from the place. Very volatile, the Europeans are, generally. Anyway, what happens over there doesn’t affect us.’
‘No I suppose not,’ Angela said. ‘Stan asked Barry if there was a war, would he go, enlist you know? Barry said, not likely, not unless he was forced to, that is. He said he had to look after his mother and me and our baby and that was enough to be going on with. Stan said he was glad Barry was so sensible and he wished all young fellows felt the same.’
‘I’d agree with him there,’ George said. ‘Some young fellows are hot-heads altogether. So let’s hope England doesn’t allow herself to be pulled into a war that is really no concern of ours and we keep our young fellows at home, where they belong, until they mature a bit.’
‘Ah, yes indeed,’ Angela agreed.
According to Iris Metcalf, who was the woman most neighbours called on when their babies were due because few used the services of a doctor unless in an emergency, Angela’s baby was due towards the end of May, maybe 24th or thereabouts, and so when March drew to a close Barry told Angela she should think about giving in her notice. However, Angela felt incredibly well and with Mary doing the lion’s share of the housework and cooking, she didn’t see the necessity.
However, someone else was concerned about Angela continuing at the shop, or maybe incensed might be a better name for it. Matilda thought, even assumed that Angela would give in her notice as soon as she became pregnant. It was after all what any decent woman would do, but George said the family needed her wages to survive. And so she continued to come and flaunt herself. Matilda had told George it wasn’t seemly to have Angela at the front of the shop serving people and he reminded her that he made the rules in the shop, not her.
In all other ways in the home and even the marriage Matilda held sway and got everything she wanted, but from the first George had made it clear that the shop was his domain, as it had been his father’s and before him his grandfather’s, and he made the decisions. This suited Matilda mainly because it gave them a good living and she had no desire to enter the smelly shop let alone work there. She had once hankered after a terrace house in some grander area far away from the cramped houses in the mean little streets, but George always said it was more practical to live in the flat above the shop. ‘It’s plenty big enough for us two,’ he’d said the first time she had asked him and he had stuck to it like a mantra and in the past would often go on, ‘I mean it isn’t as if we have a house full of children.’ He had stopped using this as another stick to beat her with because she couldn’t help not liking children. And she really thought what women had to endure to conceive was too disgusting for words and she was having no truck with that. But George’s paternal feelings had been turned on when Angela McClusky came to work in the shop. He was more than just fond of her and that was like a thorn in Matilda’s side and she begrudged every mouthful of the dinner she took as her right because George said so. But she knew Angela couldn’t go on much longer. So when she was still there the first week in April she said to George as they sat eating their evening meal, ‘I just hope you have honed up your midwifery skills, that’s all I can say.’
‘What?’
‘I think you heard,’ Matilda said testily. ‘I hope you know just what to do when Angela McClusky goes into labour in the shop in front of all the customers.’
George blanched at the thought, but said firmly enough, ‘That won’t happen.’
‘And how are you going to ensure that, pray?’ Matilda said. ‘According to what I hear, babies have an annoying habit of coming unannounced whenever they please and the more inconvenient the time the better. Tell you what,’ she added, ‘I am surprised that young husband of hers has not been up to see you before now, because you are putting Angela at risk, not to mention their unborn child if she carries on like this. And you can’t even use the excuse that they need the money any more because from what I hear he is on good money now.’
Matilda’s words hit home for George knew a lot of what she said was right and he thought himself selfish and insensitive not to encourage Angela to leave, just because he was dreading not seeing her again. But he may have put her at risk. Pregnant women should rest, he had heard, and though Angela had never said she wanted to leave, he knew he should have insisted and before he could talk himself out of it, then and there he went down to the shop, packed a bag of groceries, and went down to see Angela with two weeks’ wages in his pocket to tell her that for her own sake she mustn’t come to the shop any more.
Both Barry and Mary were relieved that Angela was released from the shop and she could rest more, and though Angela missed the shop and had never complained, the ponderous weight she was now carrying around did wear her out, so she knew it was probably for the best.
Now that money was easier Barry gave Angela money to buy some things for the baby and she went to the Bull Ring with Mary. They wandered around the stalls comparing prices and chose what to buy with care. Eventually they bought some soft sheeting to cut into squares to make nappies and they also bought rubber pants. ‘A marvellous invention,’ Mary called them. ‘There were none of these sorts of things in rural Ireland when mine were growing up,’ she said. They added long nightdresses, little vests, a couple of crocheted matinee jackets, a bonnet, bo
otees, a couple of warm wool blankets and a shawl. ‘Now,’ Mary said, as they set off for home, ‘we’re all ready. All we’re waiting on is the baby.’
‘Oh yes,’ Angela said. ‘I hope it’s soon. Nine months is such a long time.’
‘It’s no time at all to grow a new life,’ Mary said. ‘Don’t fret, your baby will come when he or she is ready and that’s how it should be.’
ELEVEN
Angela’s pains began in the early hours of 24th May. It was Saturday and Barry worked half a day and so Angela said nothing to him. Although she longed to meet the baby she had carried for so long, she was nervous of the birth and Mary understood this and so gave her some idea of what to expect. ‘A first baby usually takes its time,’ she said. ‘After that it’s as if the body knows what to do. But the labour with a first is usually longer and when your pains start they are little more than a grumbling, not unlike the pain you sometimes get with your monthlies.’
And lying in the bed that morning, Angela thought Mary had been right, for the pains were like the drawing pains she’d had each month before she became pregnant, when she would search out the cotton pads she always had ready in the cupboard. ‘Best thing in the early stages is to keep moving,’ Mary had advised and Angela knew that she was probably right about that too, but she could hardly leave her bed so early and walk the floor.
All that would do would be to wake Barry and then once he realized what was happening he would probably not want to go to work but stay at home fussing all around her and worrying himself into an early grave. No, it was better Barry was kept in ignorance for a wee while yet and she closed her eyes and tried to rest, drawing her legs up to ease the pains slightly.
Next to her in the bed, Barry was awake though he kept his eyes shut. Since Angela’s time drew nearer he had tended to sleep more lightly and so he had been aware of her slight movement when the pain woke her first and was aware of her beside him now with her knees pulled up and sometimes giving small gasps that she tried to smother. Angela was right that he was anxious, for as his darling wife had grown bigger and ungainly he realized what he had done and what Angela would have to go through to give birth to the child.
He loved Angela more than life itself, but she was young, surely too young to start having babies when she had scarcely finished maturing. He had said as much to his mother out of Angela’s hearing and she had said, ‘Tell you the truth, Barry, I have thought the same myself. But see, Son, what’s done is done. Angela might be small and young, but she’s strong enough and I have sounded out Iris Metcalf and you know she’s helped the birth of nearly every child in this street, so she knows her stuff. We just have to put our trust in God, that’s all.’
It wasn’t that reassuring and Barry hadn’t the same belief in prayer as his mother and he felt totally helpless. But he reasoned there was no need for him to lie there when Angela was obviously in pain and trying to cover it up, so he whispered, ‘Angela.’
‘Oh I’m sorry,’ Angela whispered back. ‘Did I wake you?’
‘I was awake anyway,’ Barry said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Right as rain,’ Angela said and then gave a gasp as another pain gripped her.
‘Doesn’t sound it to me,’ Barry said. ‘Shall I fetch Mammy?’
‘No,’ Angela said firmly and added, ‘Look Barry, it is the baby coming but your mother assures me that first babies take ages.’
‘Even so, I won’t go in today,’ Barry said. ‘They’ll understand I have to stay with you.’
‘To do what exactly?’
‘What d’you mean?’
‘I mean what is the point of you staying away from work?’ Angela said. ‘I told you your mother said it takes ages and she meant hours, not minutes, and you can do nothing during that time. You might not even be let in the room. I know your mother thinks it’s no place for a man when a woman is giving birth and it’s more than likely the midwife will feel the same way. You’d just be kicking your heels and worrying more than ever.’
‘I feel so useless.’
Angela gave a wry smile. ‘I imagine most men do,’ she said. ‘Your work is over until the baby’s born and then you can prove that you are the best father in Christendom.’
‘I will be that all right,’ Barry said fervently. ‘But can I do anything for you now? How about me making you a nice hot cup of tea?’
Angela knew there was going to be no further sleep or rest for either of them that night and said, as she attempted to get out of bed, ‘Your mother said it was best to move around.’
Barry pushed her gently back onto the pillows and said, ‘Don’t care what my mother said. I am going downstairs now to make a cup of tea for my lady wife because it is all I can do for the woman who is soon going to make me the proudest man on earth.’
Angela’s eyes filled with tears at Barry’s lovely words and she knew it was important that he made that tea. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.
‘Course I’m sure,’ Barry said, slipping his trousers on as he spoke. ‘If only to prove to you that I’m not bloody helpless.’
He pushed his feet into his boots, gave Angela a kiss and left the attic. And Angela heard the clatter of his boots on the stairs in the still night and knew it was unlikely Mary would sleep through it and would probably work out why Barry was going downstairs so early.
Angela was right and a few minutes later she heard Mary’s laboured breath as she ascended the stairs. She was wearing an old robe wrapped over her nightdress but Angela was pleased that she had the warm slippers on her feet that she had bought her for Christmas. ‘Is it time?’ she asked Angela, but she was in the throes of another contraction that answered her question.
‘And where’s his Lordship off to?’ Mary asked. ‘It was like a herd of elephants going down the stairs.’
‘Angela smiled. ‘I know,’ she said and despite the fact she felt bad about waking Mary it was very reassuring to have her there. ‘He’s making me a cup of tea,’ she told Mary. ‘He insisted. He said he feels useless.’
‘Well he will,’ Mary said. ‘Most men are useless when it comes to the birth. But making a cup of tea won’t hurt him and drinking it won’t hurt you. After he is packed off to work I want you to move down to the bedroom where you will be more comfortable and that will be your room from now on and I will relocate to the attic.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Course I am,’ Mary said. ‘It’s right now for me to move to the attic. But I must try and protect the mattress by covering it with some rubber sheeting I got hold of.’
‘Barry did threaten not to go in today,’ Angela said to Mary. ‘He wanted to stay with me.’
‘Stuff and nonsense!’ Mary said impatiently. ‘Men are neither use nor ornament when a woman is giving birth and I wouldn’t have him, or any other man cluttering up the bedroom, so going to work is the only sensible thing to do and I shall tell him that when he gets here with the tea.’ And Mary did tell Barry and in a tone that brooked no argument though he did try.
Mary went down to see to the bed and when Angela had finished the tea Mary and Barry helped her down to the bedroom, and Mary told her to rest between contractions while she followed Barry downstairs and cooked him breakfast. It was too early for him to go to work so Mary asked him to top up the coal scuttle with coal from the cellar and also fill the kettle and the large pan with water from the tap in the yard, and Mary hung those over the fire so there would be plenty of warm water when it was needed.
As soon as Barry left Mary cooked porridge for Angela to give her strength for the ordeal ahead. She took it up to her to find her in quite a lot more pain. She didn’t really want the porridge, but ate it to please Mary, but she was grateful for the second cup of tea she brought.
Despite Mary saying it was better to move around in the early stages Angela found it hard to stand and with each contraction she had the desire to crouch. When she told Mary this she said, ‘You might surprise us all and give birth quicker than I imagine
d. Will you be all right if I pop along to tell Iris you’ve started?’
‘No I’ll be fine and I’d really like to see her,’ Angela said for she liked the doughty little woman. She felt safe in her hands; she knew what she was doing and she was clean.
When she said this to Mary she agreed. ‘Some dirty ones about. Most around here have Iris now, but before she moved here about ten years ago women would get who they could to help if they had no handy relatives, and the tales they have told me about some of these old hags, gin sodden many of them and completely useless! I’ve heard some right horror stories. There’s none of that sort of carry-on with Iris. Anyway I won’t be a tick.’
Mary was much longer than a tick. But then she brought Iris back with her and Angela was relieved to see her because the space between the contractions had shortened considerably and the pains were much stronger. ‘Let’s have a little look, ducks,’ she said throwing back the bedclothes. She gave a grunt of satisfaction as she stood up again and said with a smile to Angela, ‘You’re almost ready. Not be that long till you’re holding your wee baby in your arms.’
Angela felt a thrill of excitement run through her even though Iris went on to say, ‘Still a wee bit of work to do yet, I need to see everything is going well inside, but I need to scrub my hands well before I do that.’
‘I have warm water ready,’ Mary said and led the way downstairs. Iris was very gentle in her examination and declared everything was as it should be and they just had to wait. And that’s what they did while Angela’s pains grew in intensity. Mary made tea for them all and when Angela began to writhe in the bed, trying to escape the wild beast tearing her insides out, Iris tied a towel to the bedhead for her to pull on when the pains got bad. ‘They are bad already,’ Angela wanted to say but she wasn’t able to say much as a massive contraction disabled her and then there was a sudden rush of water from her body. ‘That’s your waters gone,’ Iris said. ‘Won’t be long now.’