LITMIR.BIZ

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Sita said, and fought against the urge.

      ‘Good girl,’ said Kelly. Her focus was totally on the delivery, and she didn’t look over when the door opened.

      ‘Hello, there,’ Richard said quietly, and Kelly calmly told him the reason for him being paged.

      ‘Thirty-seven weeks and small for dates,’ Kelly explained.

      The room was getting crowded. Stella had come in after Richard, followed by Dr Mina just as the head was delivered. And now there was Guy Masters, the paediatrician on call, whom Freya had already met.

      ‘Well done, Sita,’ Dr Mina said. ‘Just breathe and do as Kelly says. Dr Masters is a paediatrician and he’s here to check your baby.’

      The head really was tiny, and Freya found she was holding her breath as the body slithered out. But even as she accepted him he started to cry. His huge eyes were blinking at the light and his little face was wrinkled.

      He was utterly gorgeous, Freya thought as she held this tiny piece of the future in her hands. Tiny, but perfect. And as she rubbed him down Guy was already examining him.

      ‘One that is better out than in,’ Guy said.

      The baby had clearly not been getting sufficient nutrition in-utero, but he was angry and defiant and utterly perfect.

      ‘I don’t think we need you, Richard,’ he said as loud cries pierced the room and the baby pinked up beautifully.

      ‘Not with those lungs,’ Richard agreed. And it was just as well he wasn’t needed because his pager was going off.

      He left unnoticed by all, Freya thought. All except her.

      ‘I think he’s ready to meet his mum,’ Guy said, and Freya popped a little hat on the baby to keep him warm, wrapped him, then carried him over to his waiting parents.

      She smiled as she watched a family being born. Freya loved delivering babies, but taking them was special too. They always tried to deliver them straight to the mother, but sometimes, as with this unexpected small size, the baby needed a proper examination. Apart from his size this one was doing just fine. Another perfect new life.

      * * *

      The day seemed to be running away from her. Busy, a bit crazy, and after her hectic morning she could only take a coffee break on the run at the desk.

      There, Dr Mina was speaking with Richard and Kelly was chatting with Stella about a film they were going to see at the weekend.

      ‘It’s supposed to be really good,’ Freya commented, subtly fishing to be asked to go with them, but Kelly just nodded her head.

      Freya took her lunch in the staff room, and just as she returned she was told that Kathy was ready to push.

      When she got to the delivery room Ben was white with fear and Freya gave him a smile.

      ‘I thought you’d gone home,’ Ben said.

      ‘And miss out on this?’ Freya asked.

      Ben proved to be a champion when it came to coaxing Kathy to push. It was clearly an excellent epidural, because she could feel the sensation and some pressure but had no pain.

      ‘Another big push,’ Freya encouraged. ‘Come on—a really big one, right down into your bottom.’

      This time it was Kelly who arrived to take the baby and soon Freya delivered a chunky baby boy. He was gorgeous, and there were tears from both Ben and Kathy as he lay on her stomach, blinking at the world.

      ‘Are you going to cut the cord, Dad?’ Kelly asked, and Ben came over with tears in his eyes to have that special moment with his son.

      Baby Hudson didn’t have a name yet, but by the time Freya was ready for home he’d had his first feed and Kathy had had a well-earned cup of tea.

      It hadn’t been a particularly busy day, or so Freya had been told, and yet she was exhausted.

      The high of Baby Hudson’s birth lasted right through the Tube journey, but faded as she began the walk for home.

      Freya had never been surrounded by more people, and yet she had never felt more alone.

      There was a social club at the hospital, but she was hardly going to walk in on her own, and making friends was proving a lot more difficult than she had anticipated.

      However, later, rather than sit alone with her noodles, Freya reminded herself that she did indeed have friends and called Alison.

      ‘How are things?’ Alison asked.

      ‘Busy,’ Freya said. ‘Well, work is—the social life, not so much.’

      ‘But you’re in London!’ Alison said.

      ‘I know...’ Freya sighed, because Alison’s observation just made it worse. ‘I am trying,’ she admitted. ‘I sort of hinted to a couple of girls at work that there was a film I’d like to see, but I felt like a bent coin in a vending machine.’

      ‘Rejected?’ Alison laughed.

      ‘Exactly.’

      ‘Keep at it. Just say yes to anything you’re invited to.’

      ‘I’ll have to be invited somewhere first.’

      ‘You will be.’

      ‘How are you?’ Freya asked. She felt her throat clamp tight, but she swallowed and pushed through, trying to keep her voice casual and light. ‘How’s the baby.’

      ‘All good. I’m fifteen weeks now, and I swear I’ve got a bump, although Callum says it’s too early.’

      Freya hesitated, because women sometimes showed more quickly with a second pregnancy, but she couldn’t gauge whether or not that was the right thing to say to Alison now.

      Freya dealt with pregnant woman every working day, and she dealt with loss too. And, what was more, she prided herself on dealing with it well. Yet when it came to her friend she felt like an absolute novice, and simply didn’t know how to be around the subject of Alison’s pregnancy.

      Freya was terrified she might break down, and Alison didn’t need that. Of course they had both cried together in the days following Andrew’s birth, and then his death, but right now Freya was sure it was time to be strong.

      ‘When’s your ultrasound?’ Freya asked.

      ‘In two weeks’ time. I’ll believe it’s really happening once I’ve heard its little heart.’

      Alison’s voice broke then, and Freya closed her eyes when she heard it. ‘It will be okay,’ she offered.

      ‘You don’t know that, Freya,’ Alison snapped.

      ‘I know, but...’ Her voice trailed off.

      ‘Sorry,’ Alison said.

      ‘Don’t be.’

      And then Freya turned on her midwife voice and said all the right things, just as she would to a patient.

      But Alison was her best friend. It was awkward and it was difficult and things were different between them.

      There was no escaping that.

       CHAPTER THREE

      RICHARD LEWIS REALLY was stunning.

      Even asleep he managed to bring a little skip to Freya’s heart when she walked in and saw him, lying across several chairs in the staff room.

      Pat and Kelly were deep in conversation there, and didn’t seem bothered in the least by the sight of Richard sprawled out.

      It bothered Freya—or rather it bothered her

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