The South West Series Box Set

by Rebecca Paulinyi

  Straining her ears, she was fairly sure she heard James coming through the front door and shouted “I'm in the garden!” in case he started searching for her. He appeared almost immediately, still dressed in his uniform that made Lee smile as he bent down for a kiss.

  “Good afternoon, gorgeous one,” he said and she giggled.

  “Bloody elephant you mean.” But he knew she was more than happy with the size of her bump - even if it was making her exhausted carrying it around.

  “Four weeks to go,” he said. “Not much longer.” Lee nodded. She was excited and nervous about the birth; about the prospect of becoming a mother - but at least she didn't have to worry too much now about those worries that had plagued her in early pregnancy. If she had the baby now, the chances were it would be absolutely fine - this wasn't that early. Of course, she was hoping that she would make it to full term, and luckily all the scans seemed to suggest that she would do.

  “I saw Gina,” James said as he sat down in the chair next to her and closed his eyes for a second, enjoying the late September sun. September had always been his favourite month of the year: without the crazy crowds that – despite bringing the tourism Devon relied on - could make life quite difficult for the locals; and, usually in James’ experience, with the best temperatures. “I popped into the cafe while I was in town and grabbed a coffee - not as good as yours, of course.” He laughed.

  “Of course not,” she said, knowing full well that Gina could make a far better cup of coffee than she could.

  “She said about popping up later this evening. I said okay, if that's alright with you?” Lee nodded with a smile.

  “That sounds great. We speak on the phone quite a bit, but I haven't seen her in a while.”

  “She's busy with the café, I guess.”

  “Yeah, but it’s just not the same as when you're living with somebody, is it?”

  “No, I guess not,” James said.

  That evening they sat around the table in the kitchen, feeling like it was a bit less formal with the three of them than when using the dining room, and James cooked a delicious lasagna that both Lee and Gina praised.

  “I've got to say it, Lee, you’ve got it made here. What a good cook!” said Gina, finishing off the last of the lasagne on her plate, but shaking her head to seconds. “No thanks, James, I honestly couldn't eat any more - but it was amazing.”

  “My cooking skills aren't anywhere near up to scratch,” said Lee, “so it is a good job James enjoys doing most of the cooking.”

  “How are you getting on?” Gina asked. “It's been a while since I've seen you in person - I can't believe how big you look!”

  “Thanks!” said Lee with a laugh. “But no, I'm doing well. Little one here won't let me sleep, so I’ve become one of those people who take naps during the day.”

  “Always the best sort of people,” said Gina. “I was definitely one of them, before we started this café business.”

  “He or she seems to start kicking the second I lie down at night and carries on for most of it - where if I lie down in the day, it doesn't seem to trigger it at all. Definitely seems like he or she is going to be a night owl.”

  “Good job I'm used to shift work, then!” said James with a smile.

  “And how about you? I'm loving the new hair - pink really suits you.”

  Gina shook her hair as she laughed. “I fancied a change. I'm good, café’s busy but I know I’ve told you that already! Tom’s been learning how to make scones, so that's handy. Not the same without you, of course.” Lee smiled an indulgent smile. She didn't know whether Gina was telling the truth or not, but she was glad to hear it all the same.

  “Of course not,” she said. “But you're getting enough time off? I don't want you to be stressed because I'm not there.”

  “No, honestly, Tom’s happy to do whatever hours I need him to - he's not got much freelance work at the minute and he can open up and cash up if I ask, although usually when we're in together I just get him to open up occasionally so I can have a bit of a lie in.”

  “Let me know, though,” said Lee. “If you think we need to hire someone else, we can always look at the budget and see if it's possible.”

  “Stop stressing about me, I'm fine,” said Gina. “In fact,” and she blushed a little, “Tom asked me out.”

  “He asked you out? I did not see that one coming!” said Lee, then instantly backtracked. “No, sorry, not because of you of course - he just didn't even strike me as the type to be bold enough to ask someone as strong as you out.”

  “No, I didn't think he would either,” said Gina. “We’ve been flirting for a little while but I actually wasn't expecting him to ask. I'm torn now, though - if we go out and it's horrible, working together is going to be really awkward.”

  “Or it could not be horrible…you get on with him well at work, don't you?”

  “Yeah…”

  “And he's cute!”

  “Mmmhmm…”

  “So I reckon you go for it,” Lee said. “I reckon you're strong enough not to make it awkward if things don't carry on, but you’re only going on a date, not agreeing to marry the guy. Besides, we could find someone else if things weren't really sour. If you like him I'd go for it.”

  “Ever the romantic,” said Gina, polishing off the glass of wine that James had generously filled for her.

  “Well,” Lee said blushing a little and meeting James’ eye for a fraction of a second. “I've got good reason to be.”

  ***

  “We're not planning on having godparents,” said Lee over Gina’s second glass of wine. “Just so you know. Neither of us is particularly religious, so it just doesn't seem to make sense to have a christening. I didn't want you to think we weren't asking you, because if we were having them you'd be top of the list. I really hope you're going to be important in this baby's life - because you help change my life into what it is now.”

  Gina grinned and squeezed Lee’s hand. “I'm not sure I'm the godmother type anyway,” she said with a laugh. “But thanks for thinking of me. It's crazy how quickly it's all coming around, isn't it?” said Gina. “It seems like five minutes ago you were saying you were pregnant and now, what, it's less than four weeks to go?”

  Lee nodded. “I know, even I’m struggling to accept it – although my stomach doesn't exactly let me forget about it! I can't believe it's not that long until I'll have been here for a year, and then we’ll be preparing for Christmas.” Lee sighed; “Remember last Christmas, with the market and going out for drinks – oh and the snow! It seems like another lifetime ago. Who would have thought things have changed so drastically?”

  ***

  Lee didn't see Gina again for another two weeks, when she decided on a whim to pop into town and go for a drink in her little café. She felt an ache when she missed the place, something she never thought she could say about a physical building, and after many days spend tidying and organising, unfolding and refolding baby clothes (nesting, her pregnancy book called it), she was feeling like she needed to see outside of the walls of their cottage. With her due date fast approaching, she thought it might well be the last time she went out on her own for a very long time, and so she relished walking slowly from the car park to the café, looking in the shop windows at the wedding dresses and the cakes and the books, before opening the door and hearing the familiar ring of the bell as she crossed the threshold into her little business.

  Gina was busy cleaning the coffee machine and it seemed that Tom was not working that day. She left the rotas up to Gina; after all it was her it affected. She turned with a smile on, ready to greet the customer, but the smile turned to a more genuine one when she realised who it was.

  “Lee!”

  “I thought I'd get out of the house,” she said. “Come for a drink, enjoy what little free time I've got left!”

  “You won't be having that for a while, not after the end of the month!” said Gina. “Here, sit down, let me get you a drink.
”

  “Decaf, please,” said Lee, mindful that she needed to watch her caffeine intake. It was simple enough at home, but when out and about she had a tendency to forget to order decaf drinks as she was used to not thinking about it.”

  “How are the barrister plans going?” Gina asked as Lee took a seat at the counter, even though one of the tables would have been much easier with the size of her bump.

  “Good. It's all pretty much sorted for when I'm ready to go back to work. I've given some legal advice while I've been here but I think I've got everything setup to actually be able to represent clients in court again - although I have to say I'm a bit nervous about going back to it.”

  “You'll be great,” said Gina; Lee marvelled at her unfailing optimism in people's abilities. “Will you be working here still, do you think?”

  Lee nodded. “I couldn't not. I miss this place, honestly - I miss the customers, I miss you, I miss steaming the milk…” They both laughed; “But probably not as much. Is that all right with you?”

  “It's quite fun, being manager really,” she said. “I never had so much responsibility before, although I probably shouldn't tell you that, since you're the one giving me the responsibility!”

  “No,” said Lee, “I know full well that you're fine with the responsibility, don't worry. That's what makes it easy not checking up on the place every day - I know it's in good hands.” A twinge of pain moved across Lee’s back and she went quiet for a second and rubbed it.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I've just been having this back ache all day.”

  “Maybe you should sit in one of the other seats,” Gina said.

  “No, I'll be alright. I'll just drink my coffee and then I'll maybe get moving again. It seems a bit better when I'm walking around.” It was as she took another sip of her coffee that she felt that same band of pain across her back into her stomach and she doubled up, spilling some of the coffee into the saucer.

  Gina looked at her with concern in her eyes. “How long have you been having this pain?” she asked.

  “Oh, I woke up with back pain this morning,” said Lee. “Then it went away for a bit. But now it’s getting stronger…”

  “Are you sure it's not anything else?” Gina asked, and for a moment Lee started considering all the possibilities.

  “You mean something is wrong? I guess… I hadn't thought…” Her words were garbled.

  “Or maybe it's labour?” said Gina. “What have you got, two weeks till your due date? It would hardly be that surprising.

  Lee felt like an idiot for not considering it sooner; she’d just put it down to sleeping in a weird position the night before, or the weight of her bump - after all, backache wasn't something she was unfamiliar with these days. “Maybe you're right,” she said. “Oh god, what if it is? What if it's time? I'm not ready!”

  “Yes, you are,” said Gina, taking charge. “Of course you are. I know you've had your bag packed for three weeks. I'll ring James, is he working?” Lee nodded, aware that another band of pain was spreading through her.

  “Don’t panic. He'll be able to leave, I’m sure they know that this was a possibility.”

  “I guess we thought it might be another week or so.”

  “Right,” said the Gina. “I'll ring, you go and sit on a chair in the back.”

  “I don't think I can move right now,” said Lee, and Gina took a deep breath and dialled James's number. Luckily, he answered after three rings.

  “Is everything all right?” he asked, presumably recognising the café’s number.

  “All fine,” said Gina. “Don't panic, but we think Lee might be in labour. Can you come and get her?”

  “I'll be right there,” said James. “I'm only at the top of Fore Street. Tell her I'll be there in two minutes.”

  “Fantastic,” said Gina, relaying the message to Lee and passing her a glass of water. The customers had started to look on in interest and Gina tried not to make a scene as Lee began to squirm, clearly in more pain.

  “I should have gone to the doctors this morning,” said Lee through gritted teeth. “I just didn't think…”

  “Never mind,” said Gina. “Torbay hospital is only twenty minutes away. You’ll be fine, James will be here – look, there's a police car pulling up outside, I bet that's him.”

  It was. He pulled up onto the curb outside the cafe and dashed in, still in his uniform, still wearing his hat and still with the police car rather than his own. There was no time to do anything about that.

  “Lee darling, are you all right?” he asked and she nodded, not wanting to speak.

  Gina filled James in on the fact that she'd been in pain all morning and that now it'd got worse and he nodded solemnly before helping her out to the car, one arm around her back, to try and help her move in the least painful way possible.

  “It's going to be alright Lee,” he said. “Hold on, we’ll be there really soon.”

  They sped out of Totnes on the main road and were lucky that all the traffic lights seemed to be green. The path became windier as the progressed, with Lee focusing on the breathing that she remembered being taught to help her through the pain. Although earlier in the day she had thought this was just backache, she was more and more convinced that this must be labour. Surely nothing else could hurt like this.

  As they approached Torquay, where the large hospital of the area was located, the traffic began to slow and before they knew it they were at a complete standstill.

  “What's happening?” asked Lee and James shook his head, looking nervous.

  “I don't know. I don't understand… it shouldn't be like this. All the holiday makers have gone, it's October! There must be something going on in Torquay…”

  It was a few minutes that they sat there for, not moving, until Lee let out a groan that she couldn't suppress.

  “James,” she said. “This is getting worse. I'm really scared…”

  “Okay, okay…” He thought for a moment then muttered under his breath ‘screw it’. Before Lee knew what was really happening the blue flashing lights and siren were blaring and the traffic parted as best it could, giving them a smooth passage towards the hospital. “It is an emergency,” James said, and Lee nodded; there was no doubting that she needed to get to the hospital. She had no idea how long her labour was likely to last, but everything felt fairly imminent.

  “Do you want to walk?” James asked. “Or should I run in and get a wheelchair?” He haphazardly parked the car; Lee knew she didn’t want to be left on her own.

  “I'll walk, if you can help me.”

  “Course. It's not far, come on – let’s do this.” He realised then that neither of them had had any opportunity to grab Lee’s hospital bag; James made a mental note to text Gina about it later so that she could bring it over. Slowly, painfully slowly, they walked towards the door, with Lee stopping whenever a pain ripped through her.

  At the doors of the maternity section of the hospital, James called out for help and a nurse appeared with a wheelchair which Lee gratefully sank into. Belatedly, James realised that he probably should have called ahead but there hadn't really been time for that, and it had all happened so suddenly. He supposed he had been in a bit of a panic.

  They checked Lee in, double checking her name, her age, how far gone she was and whether this was her first baby, since her maternity notes were safely in her hospital bag, back at the cottage. Lee tried her best to answer their questions and ignore the rising sense of panic at the impending event.

  “How long ago did the pain start?”

  “Well, I don't know. I thought it was backache but that was all the way this morning and it's got steadily worse from that, so I don't really know when it started properly…”

  “Okay, well let's get you back and have a look at you. It might be a false alarm, first time mothers don't usually have a quick delivery, but let's get you back and have a look.”

  Lee hoped she might feel more comfortable in bed;
in fact the opposite was true. It was so hard to keep the pain from overtaking her mind when she couldn't walk around. She just hoped this wasn't going to last all afternoon and all night. They strapped her up to a monitor and went about checking her blood pressure. After a couple of minutes, Lee felt another pain again and saw the midwife make some notes.

  “Definitely looks like labour,” she said. “Let's see how many centimetres dilated you are. I'll just examine you, okay?”