‘Flump?’
‘I’d like to say because I had an addiction to the sweets, but really it was because my belly got more squishy and striped with each pregnancy.’
‘Oh.’ Lisa giggled.
‘So … what’s yours?’
‘We don’t have one.’
Felicity went to speak but Lisa continued, ‘Pip remained Pip because that was the size she had grown to on my pregnancy app. For this baby I want to focus on the name he or shewill have at birth.’
‘That’s understandable.’ Felicity bit her lip.
Hoping she hadn’t made her feel uncomfortable, Lisa changed the subject. ‘Did I tell you I think it’s a boy? The sonographer definitely referred to the baby as “him” during the scan.’
‘Really? He dropped the sex bomb? After you said you didn’t want to know?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wow!’ Flick shook her head. ‘But I guessit must be hard not to let it slip.’
‘He added “or her” quite quickly after.’
‘Hmm, so either it was a slip, or he said “him” because he was trying not to let you know it was a girl.’
‘A girl?’ Fred stopped what he was doing to screw up his nose and look at Lisa. ‘I want a boy to play with.’
Lisa picked up one of Fred’s teddies – a fluffy dog complete with collar and lead. ‘Well,it might be. But I can’t promise.’ Lisa wrapped a bandage round the dog’s leg. ‘Oh no, vet Fred, can you fix him?’
‘Maybe.’ Fred took the dog. ‘But I can’t promise.’
Lisa laughed.
As Fred set to with his patient, Lisa thought how lucky her baby would be to have Fred and the rest of Felicity’s children to grow up with. ‘He’s too cute!’ She smiled and took another sip of her water beforechanging the subject. ‘Shall we look at this week’s client list, sort appointments and look at the goodiesPaws About Townhave sent?’
‘They’ve arrived?’
‘Yes, the parcel’s in my van.’
‘Wow, that was speedy. And you don’t find it weird, your editor getting in touch after all this time?’
‘At first. But it turns out the features editor, Jane, had been having some personal issuesof her own.’ Lisa mouthed ‘divorce’, as if Fred shouldn’t hear the word.
‘I guess you never know what other people are going through.’ Felicity drank the last of her tea.
‘True. Now it seems she’s back on top of things, and curiosity got the better of her about me leaving. She looked me up and discovered my Purrfect Pet Sitter page. In her words it set her “cogs turning”.’
‘Great.If it means you can earn some extra money before the baby comes, it’s a win-win.’
Registering the unsure tone in Felicity’s voice, Lisa looked at her. ‘I’ll still need to keep my business going. I still need you with me.’
‘Really?’ Felicity smiled, relief evident in her eyes.
‘Of course, I can’t climb trees now I’m twenty weeks pregnant.’
‘Ha, that was not in my contract.’
‘Flick, you don’t have a contract.’
