Spencer had no idea what that meant, but judging by the gleam in the man’s eye, it was something to be proud of.
Lola sank into the mats. ‘Ooh, I wish I could afford to send my kid there.’
‘You can pay monthly,’ said Edward.
‘Yeah, if I want to give up my rent.’ Lola shook her head at him.
A conversation about private education went on for a while, only interrupted by Shelby telling everyone it was time to leave soon. That sentence seemed to mean something, as all parents snuggled their babies to their chests, Beth placing Archie on Spencer.
He went to ask what he was supposed to do, but a lullaby started to play from Shelby’s phone, and some of the parents started to quietly sing along.
Beth leaned closer to Spencer, stroking Archie’s hair while joining in with the song. Her chocolate eyes rolled his way for a moment, and he matched her warm smile before lowering his mouth to kiss his son’s head. He wished he could lean over and kiss her head too but didn’t feel it would be appropriate under the circumstances.
She continued to sing to Archie, and Spencer continued to melt into a pool of slush at the sight. As he glanced up, he saw Edward quickly look down at Lester.
Yeah, you keep watching, mate. This is my family. You can . . .
Lola suddenly snuggled into Edward’s side, and Spencer witnessed the loving look they shared. If they were a couple, noone had told him. He honestly thought Edward’s playdate line was code for trying to date Beth.
‘Are they together?’ he whispered close to Beth’s ear, grazing her lobe with his lips by accident. Never mind yoga, a packed Zumba class had just taken place in his stomach.
Beth nodded. ‘It’s new,’ she mouthed.
Shelby wrapped things up, and Spencer handed Archie to Beth so he could load the van.
‘Are you two coming to the kindness festival?’ he asked, watching Edward and Lola secure their babies in the prams. Now he knew Edward wasn’t making moves on Beth, he felt he could be his friend.
‘Yeah, we’ll be there,’ said Lola. ‘We’re taking turns to help Shelby shine a light on our group.’
‘Great.’ He turned to Beth, placing Archie in his car seat. ‘You strap him in the van and open the back doors, and I’ll grab this lot.’
It wasn’t long before they were heading to the Hub, and Spencer noticed how squashed Beth was the other end of the three seats in the front of his van. Archie’s car seat was pressing against his elbow as well.
‘I might look into a family car,’ he said quietly, as Archie was drifting off.
‘I was thinking of buying one. I’ve been saving for a while. Thought it might be easier getting around with Archie.’
‘We can go halves if you want. Do a bit of a car share.’
Beth laughed. ‘The way we’re going, we’d be in it together anyway.’
Spencer grinned. ‘Ah, nothing wrong with that.’ He pulled up outside the Hub, grabbed a box of baby clothes, and went straight inside to see Robson was on a shift with Alice.
Alice glanced in the box. ‘Ooh, that’s generous of people.’
‘Wait till you see the rest.’ Spencer motioned to the van.
‘I’ll help,’ said Robson, following him outside, where Beth was pulling Archie’s car seat out.
Spencer quickly took the seat from Beth, giving her back a gentle rub. ‘Go and sit down. We’ll sort this lot.’ He placed Archie out of the way, leaving Alice to coo over him, then brought the rest of the donations inside.
‘From the parent and baby group I attend,’ Beth told Alice as she sat.
Alice started to unbox some items to place in the storage room. ‘I just had someone come in earlier asking if we had breast pads.’
‘Jan told me she and Henley have been in touch with the local health visitors, and they’re going to give referrals to those in need, but I guess there will still be those passing that pop in on the off chance.’
Alice nodded. ‘Word of mouth.’
