‘He’s gorgeous,’ Tilly enthused.
‘He totally is,’ Jade agreed, waving mum and baby off as they left for home.
‘Did your uterus skip a beat?’ Tilly giggled once they’d gone off down the path that ran alongside the pub and led to the pavement on The Street. She finished her glass of prosecco.
‘Quiet, you.’ But it had. Of course it had. Jade had wanted a baby for a long time. It was the part of her life plan she’d begun to put into action right after they returned from Italy. Celeste knew about the big step she’d taken back then, but she suspected her sister had forgotten all about it.
‘She needs a man before she can have a baby,’ Celeste said, coming to join them. ‘I’d suggest trying that first.’
‘Look around…’ Tilly lifted her glass as she turned, as though she’d been given a project she could finally get her teeth stuck into, and when chef at the pub, Benjamin, walked past with a bowl of freshly cut chips she almost knocked into him. Luckily, he was amused – and strong enough that the food stayed in his hand. ‘Benjamin’s single,’ she whispered, although her whisper was decibels higher than anyone else’s might be.
‘Benjamin’s a friend, nothing more,’ Jade replied. He was a lovely guy and she hadn’t said anything to her friend but over the past few weeks she’d noticed him watching Tilly whenever they were in the pub, coming over to where they were sitting to say hello any time he got the chance.
Tilly gestured to the crowds in the beer garden using her hand, although it was so dark by now that Jade had no idea what or who she might be gesturing at. ‘Plenty of other men to choose from, take your pick. Get yourself a baby daddy!’
‘Oh my goodness, no need to tell the world my desire to have a baby.’ Glad Tilly’s glass was now empty, she added, ‘No more drinks for you, eh?’
‘Tilly’s fun when she’s drunk,’ Celeste giggled.
‘Actually, she is,’ said Jade in a low voice. ‘But I wish it wasn’t me we were talking about. Besides,’ she said to them both as they moved further away from anyone else, ‘I would never do that to a man, I’d never trap him.’ She wished she hadn’t run out of wine – at least then she’d have her glass to hide behind, the alcohol to make her braver. ‘Perhaps I have another plan.’
Celeste showed the first signs of curiosity, her mind clearly going to the place she thought her sister had left behind. ‘Tell us more. I mean, I should be involved seeing as we live together and run a bakery together.’ Jade hesitated enough that Celeste’s brain whirred into action and she lost interest in finishing her own drink. ‘You’re not doing what I think you’re doing, are you?’
‘What?’ Tilly looked from one to the other. ‘What is she thinking of doing?’
It looked as though the moment had arrived, the moment she’d admit everything, and perhaps at long last she was ready. ‘Sit down, both of you, and I’ll tell you.’
Tilly, clearly tipsy, tiptoed as if in a comedy sketch over to the nearest vacant table. ‘Spill your secrets.’ She beamed a smile at Benjamin, who must have picked up on how drunk she was because he’d brought over a jug filled with iced water and three glasses.
As Celeste poured them each a water, Jade told them how she’d grown tired of waiting for Mr Right, that she knew time was not on her side now she was approaching thirty-four.
‘I want a family, plain and simple,’ Jade concluded to the two shocked faces, neither of which gave much away.
Celeste managed to mask any approval or disapproval. Perhaps the information needed time to percolate.
‘I don’t want to settle for any man just because I want to have children,’ Jade went on. ‘It wouldn’t be fair to do that to him, to the child, or to me.’
And although Tilly wasn’t at all sober, she was still able to think. ‘There’s something I’m missing, isn’t there?’
‘There is,’ Jade exhaled. ‘I need to bring you up to speed.’ It would also give Celeste a chance to digest Jade’s plan, part of which she already knew about, and let it settle in her mind.
And so, beneath the night sky, Jade told them both everything – how devastated she’d been to break up with Dario when they left Venice and how she’d returned to England grieving over what might’ve been.
A few months after the sisters arrived home in England, when her head was a lot straighter than it had been at first, Jade had looked into getting her eggs frozen. She knew she wanted a family – she had no doubts in her mind – but after Dario, she felt as though finding someone else and falling in love was impossible. Celeste had urged her to wait before she did anything and she had, she’d gone to counselling, she’d seen a gynaecologist to check everything was in working order, but she never changed her mind. Celeste had supported her during the process, she’d been there for the daily injections to stimulate the ovaries, been by her side at ultrasound appointments and for blood tests whenever she could, and she was there to drive her home after the egg collection. They’d talked and talked over those weeks when the process was in full swing, but once it was done, the talking stopped. Jade had suddenly become content that she had safeguarded her future dreams, she was far happier than she’d been in a long while, and although Celeste never said as much, Jade wondered whether her sister was thinking her actions had been more of a knee-jerk reaction to the split with Dario than a firm plan.
Both sisters had thrown themselves into the business and it wasn’t until they started to put their renovation plans in place, including expanding the cake-making side of things, that Jade began to think more about her plans and dreams on a more personal level, about the family she longed to have. The timing would work once the renovations were finished and they were on track with the bakery. She and Dario had severed contact; the happy ending they’d both discussed on more than one occasion, with children a part of the bigger picture, was over. Gone. And the day Linc had found the photograph of Dario, prompting Jade to finally put it away with the rest of the travelling memories, had been another sign that she was ready. She wanted to get started with the IVF.
‘I was worried about telling you my plans.’ She watched her sister, trying to gauge her reaction. ‘I know you were behind me when I went through having my eggs frozen, you were one-hundred-per-cent supportive, but the next stage makes it real.’
‘What is the next stage?’ Tilly asked. She seemed to have sobered up a lot with the topic of discussion.
‘Basic biology.’ Celeste reached out her hand and clutched her sister’s in support, although Jade suspected she needed as much emotional support to get her own head around it. ‘She needs a sperm donor.’
Tilly puffed out her cheeks. ‘That’s some news. Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?’
Jade shrugged. They were good friends, but it was so personal she hadn’t been ready until now. ‘I’m telling you now that I think I have things sorted in my own head.’
‘Well, we are all behind you,’ Tilly assured her. ‘And if anyone can make it work, it’s you.’
