Shelby turned to Beth. ‘Would you like to talk about anything? Everything goes here.’
It would appear, seeing how a lady called Moira spoke of her haemorrhoids that hadn’t gone down since giving birth over six months ago.
Beth didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to go over her hospital story. It was hard enough talking about it to Jan, Pearl, and Spencer. She just wanted it gone from her mind. ‘Erm, I’m not sure.’
Lola placed her daughter on the mat in front of her as she glanced at Beth. ‘Aww, bad birth story, babe? There has been a couple in here the last few months.’
Beth wondered just how much her expression had given away for Lola to say that. Was trauma written all over her face? ‘It wasn’t what I expected,’ was all she cared to add.
Moira chuckled. ‘Never is, love.’
The woman who had three kids chimed in. ‘My first was a bloody nightmare. Second, no problem, but this one—’ she pointed at the eleven-month-old trying to crawl away — ‘everything went wrong at the hospital. Don’t know if it was the midwife’s first day or what, but she didn’t have a clue. Mind, she was on her own and looked dead on her feet.’ She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing. ‘Little man got distressed. I ended up being rushed off for a caesarean, my old man was in bits.’
‘It happens,’ said Lola. ‘It’s not all storks with neatly wrapped packages.’
Beth shook her head. ‘No, definitely not. Although, my birth was okay. I just had problems leading up to that day.’ Shestopped herself, not wanting to continue. They seemed a nice enough bunch, and she was sure they would understand, but the story was exhausting, so she left it at that and hoped nobody probed.
Another woman started talking about her birth story while she sat breastfeeding, and she went on for quite some time, which seemed to bore Lola, judging by her dramatic yawn, but Beth found the birthing pool information quite interesting. Not that she would ever use one. She wouldn’t be using any labour wards or tranquil birthing rooms. Just the thought of falling pregnant again brought about a cold sweat.
Just as Shelby went to change the subject to vitamin drops, Beth raised her free arm.
‘Oh, you can just pop to the loo,’ said Shelby, gesturing to the end of the room over by the small stage. ‘You don’t need to ask.’
Beth shook her head. ‘No, it’s not that. I just wondered if I could pick your brains while you’re here.’ She looked at each person in turn. ‘I’m doing some voluntary work at the Happy to Help Hub. I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.’
They nodded, and Lola mentioned she used the food bank one time.
‘Well,’ added Beth, ‘I want the food bank to also be a baby bank. It won’t be huge or anything, as there isn’t the room, but if I can get people to donate some nappies, perhaps old clothes, blankets, small bits and bobs. That sort of thing. What do you think?’
Moira raised her finger. ‘I can donate to the baby bank. I’m not having any morekids, so any baby bits I no longer need can go to the Hub.’
‘I can buy some nappies,’ said Edward. ‘I have some brand-new babygrows as well that Lester never got around to wearing.’
Lola widened her eyes at him. ‘I told you before about wasting money, Ed. Doesn’t matter if you’re loaded. You don’t have to buy everything you see.’
He bobbed his head at Beth. ‘It’s true. I buy far more than what’s needed. Lester has a whole stack of bath robes he’s never used. You can have those too.’
‘You want to see if you can get anyone to donate baby milk,’ said Moira. ‘Costs a small fortune.’
Everyone murmured their agreement on that.
Beth felt so pleased she’d drummed up support on her first day, and that she felt relaxed at last. It was good hearing all the different birth stories, how tired everyone was, and the reassurance the group gave to each other whenever someone spoke of getting things wrong. She no longer felt alone, and after hearing Edward and Lola say they had no partner to help, she felt blessed she had Spencer.
‘You could hire help,’ Lola told Edward.
He wrinkled his nose. ‘It would make me feel as though I’d failed.’
Moira scoffed. ‘Don’t be daft. If I could afford a nanny, I’d hire one straight away.’ She leaned back on her hands. ‘Oh, how lovely it would be to let someone else take over. My other half doesn’t know one end of a baby bottle from the other. He thinks going out to work every day is hard. He should try stopping home.’
As much as Beth wanted to say something wonderful about Spencer, she held back. He wasn’t her partner, so she wasn’t quite sure how to explain their living arrangements. Perhaps she should talk to him, seeing how she’d been there a couple of weeks. It was nice in his flat, and she was sure if he wanted her to move out, he would say.
The rest of the morning was enjoyable. Beth even stayed for the free cup of tea and biscuits on offer. It was nice to make new friends, especially ones in a similar boat to her.
After tucking Archie up in his pram, she headed for the shops. Her son had abirthday card to buy for his father, thanks to Lottie letting her know. She needed to think of a suitable present for someone she hardly knew.
As soon as she saw theDadcoffee mug in the card shop, it was a done deal. Pleased with her purchase, she headed to Berry Blooms to see the man who she was growing attached to more and more each day.
Spencer beamed as she entered the shop, rushing forward to help with the door. ‘How did it go?’
