Flick picked up and threw a soft cube at Melissa. The bell inside jingled as it bouncedoff her. ‘And there I was feeling sad this was your last Jiggle and Sing.’
‘I know, me too. Back to work.’ Melissa shuddered. ‘I’m still trying to get my head round that.’ She picked Bella up on to her lap. ‘I’m choosing to remain in denial about this one starting nursery.’
‘I’m sure you are. But you know it will be all right. Bella will be fine.’ Felicity sat down, retaking her placein the circle of seats. ‘She’ll have a good time, meet new people, make friends, and remember, even if she cries when you drop her off, it won’t be long before she’ll be crying because you came to pick her up.’
Thinking about the things she had heard Felicity say she missed, Lisa added, ‘And you’ll be able to have adult conversation.’
‘You do remember I’m a teacher, don’t you? Adult conversationis limited.’ Melissa laughed, returning a wriggling Bella to the floor and the toys she wanted to play with.
‘Oh … yes! Well, at least you’ll get to dress up and go and do adult things,’ Lisa corrected.
‘I miss adult things.’ Felicity sighed. ‘But,’ she picked Fred up and blew a raspberry into his neck, causing him to shriek with giggles before she stood him back down, ‘I’ve realised somethingrecently; while I definitely don’t want more children, Fred is my last baby. I won’t be doing any of it again. I won’t be pregnant; I won’t have a baby again.’
‘But you’re OK with that.’
‘Yes, definitely, but I’m also aware that one day, before I know it, it will be the last day I pick Fred up and carry him – seriously, I can’t pick Megan up now, and I can barely lift Alice, and I don’tknow when the last time I carried them anywhere was. Or when the last time I read the girls a bedtime story was. I don’t know when reading time instead of story time became their new norm. It all slips by so quickly.’
Lisa and Melissa looked at Felicity as she continued.
‘So while I know I need more me time – for my own sanity, I think that’s important – I also have to make the most ofthis little monster while he’s still my baby.’ Felicity scooped Fred up again, causing him to shriek once more.
As she stood him back down, Fred shouted, ‘Mummy, potty!’
Felicity flew into action, grabbing the potty bag and taking hold of Fred’s hand. ‘Even changing nappies stops one day before you know it,’ she called over her shoulder.
Melissa sighed. ‘That’s why I’m going part-time.I love my job, but I want to have time with Bella too.’ She gathered up their empty mugs and returned them to the serving hatch as the group leader put the tidy-time CD on.
The children set to throwing the toys into two large bags the group leader had placed in the middle. Bella, who had been distracted by the commotion of tidy time, hadn’t noticed Melissa had moved until she spotted her returningacross the circle. For the benefit of her mum, Bella squealed. Melissa scooped her into her arms and looked at Lisa. ‘How about you? What will you do about work? Will you be the Purrfect Pet Sitter plus one?’
Lisa sat back. ‘I haven’t really thought about it.’ There was so much else to consider, so much else to occupy her mind when she wouldn’t let herself think that far ahead. Nathan hadsuggested she move in with him and had spoken about completing the renovations on his house as one property as opposed to flats. And while that would be amazing, and an easy way to get Sam out of the picture, Lisa knew she needed to give herself time to get her head round being pregnant, to know that everything was all right. Thinking about work hadn’t been a priority. ‘I really don’t know. I’m verybusy at the moment. I’m already getting booked up for Easter, and some people are booking as far ahead as the summer.’ Daring to allow herself to think how far into her pregnancy she might be by then, Lisa continued, ‘I’m not sure how I’ll do it all. I’m starting to feel a bit exhausted by the end of the day as it is. And I’m not exactly heavily pregnant yet, am I?’
‘I guess it’s tough beingself-employed when it comes to things like maternity leave.’
‘Yes. I will be able to do my job with a baby, and that’s lucky, but it would be nice to have a little time off and know that my business will be OK. Nathan’s shifts mean he might be able to help a bit, but other than that, I’m not sure I can trust someone to just take over the reins.’
‘Unless that someone is someone you canrely on.’
‘Yes, who’s trustworthy and doesn’t mind not earning a fortune while working random hours. Now where can I find that person?’
‘Here.’ Felicity’s voice came from behind them. ‘What about me?’
Lisa and Melissa turned to look at her.
‘You just said you can do your job with a baby, so why not let me and Fred help you? It will be great. We’ll be great together, you know wewill.’ Felicity noticed that Lisa and Melissa were staring past her at Fred. In his efforts to join in with the final part of tidy time, he was swinging a cuddly toy cat by its tail en route to taking it to the toy bag. ‘He would never do that with a real cat. He loves animals,’ Felicity reassured them.
