Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lisa waved goodbye to Florian wishing him a lovely day out with Dom, before returning to the nursery. Florian had done a fantastic job. She was delighted with the mural, and after not letting Nathan see it as a work in progress she now couldn’t wait to show him. Under Florian’s tutorage, she had even let her mum do a little of it. It made it even more personal. It wasmid-July and the baby was due in two weeks. Having officially moved into Nathan’s – or their place as he insisted it now was – Lisa was finally feeling as if she would be ready by the time the baby arrived. Felicity had taken on more of her pet-sitting duties, but Lisa was still keeping her hand in. She couldn’t let her favourite clients down and had an appointment booked in to walk Jack a littlelater in the day – an excuse for a catch-up with Winnie too.
Lisa wandered into the lounge and picked up her laptop. She and Felicity sometimes posted photographs to their Facebook page while pet-sitting or on dog walks. It kept the page active as clients enjoyed stopping by to see their pet’s antics; an idea Lisa had got from the Pet Cam. Sure enough, Felicity had posted a picture of DocMcFluffins enjoying a cabbage leaf. Lisa smiled.
As she returned to her news feed, Lisa noticed an alert from theGazetteadvising of an incident causing chaos on the local roads. The picture showed an ambulance and fire engines on the A27. She thought about Nathan and hoped there were no fatalities. He didn’t always share the things he saw or dealt with at work, but Lisa was mindful of thefact there were times when he just needed her to be there, to listen to the highs and lows while he vented about his day. Scrolling through theGazettepage, she tried to read what had happened but couldn’t follow the article as advertisements filled the screen.
Lisa closed her laptop and decided to text her mum to check she was OK. She knew she and her dad were due to pick up her brotherfrom the airport and wanted to make sure they weren’t involved in the incident. Confirmation soon came that they were too far on in their journey to be affected. Lisa was relieved, and excited to know she would soon see Luke. While Lisa had hoped he would return to England for Easter, the appeal of staying longer in Ireland with his girlfriend had won out. They had called and FaceTimed each otherregularly but the fact he was now en route home meant she was guaranteed a proper catch-up with him before the baby arrived.
As she went to move from the sofa, Lisa felt her stomach tightening. She gritted her teeth waiting for the tension to pass. She had felt a few false contractions in the night, making her uncomfortable, and sleep difficult. Lisa hissed through her teeth as the pain lastedlonger than she had previously experienced. When it eventually eased she felt relieved, and a little light-headed. Uno meowed at her, hungrily.
‘OK, I’m coming.’ Lisa slid herself to the edge of the sofa and stood up. She was feeling more cumbersome by the day. Her increasing size, combined with the summer heat meant she was often uncomfortable. The midwife had said she was carrying a bigbaby and she knew it. It frequently dug under her ribs and pushed down on her bladder as it fought for space. Sleeping had become difficult as she found it harder to get comfortable in bed, and switching positions had become akin to doing a five-point turn.
With Uno contentedly eating, Lisa decided to get ready for her appointment with Jack and Winnie. Halfway up the stairs, her stomach beganto tighten once more, but this time the sensation was lower and intensified like a strong period pain. She clutched her stomach.It’s too early. There are two weeks to go.While the pain continued, she had no choice but to stay still. When finally it eased, Lisa returned back downstairs to her phone. The Braxton Hicks she had previously experienced were not as strong as those she was feeling now.Lisa didn’t want to make a fuss, but she also didn’t want to leave it too late to call for help if labour had started.
Remembering from her antenatal classes that she was supposed to time her contractions to establish if there was a pattern to them, she turned her phone on.Wait, do I time from the start or the end, when am I supposed to start and stop the clock?As she went to Google it anotherpain gripped her. Forgetting all she’d learnt about breathing the pain away she growled. She didn’t know how long it had been since the last contraction, but they seemed close. She didn’t want to phone the fire station. Even if she could get a message to Nathan, the accident almost certainly meant the watch would be busy. For all she knew the contractions were a false alarm. Remembering thatFlorian said Dom was off work Lisa called him.
‘Rose, Gran says you’re walking Jack today so I might stop by before I meet Flor—’
‘How will I know when I’m in labour?’
‘What? Why? Do you think you’re in labour?’
‘No. Well maybe. I’ve been having false contractions. It’s probably just more of them. There are still two weeks to go.’
‘All right, but if you’re not sure you shouldcall the hospital and speak to the midwife.’
‘I will. It’s probably nothing. Braxton Hicks.’
‘Are you timing them?’
About to ask exactly how to do that, Lisa felt another contraction coming on. ‘Will do.’ She hung up, and rode out the pain. This time it didn’t last so long.So they’re irregular, I’m not in established labour.Lisa had no idea where the thought came from or if it wascorrect, but it gave her some comfort. She had read so much on the subject, attended her antenatal classes and watched TV programmes – forwarding the parts that looked painful – believing she’d retained some knowledge gave her hope that everything would be all right. She tried to think, what else could she remember? Thoughts spun in her mind and panic began to set in. Unsure what she should be doingor if what she was experiencing was even the start of labour Lisa decided to call Felicity.She’ll know what to do.
Lisa waited while the phone rang.
‘Hello, Lisa? It said Lisa.’ Callum’s voice was squeaky and curious.
‘Callum, it is me. Is Mummy there?’
‘Yes.’
Relieved, Lisa blew out a breath and waited. And waited. ‘Callum?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can I speak to Mummy?’
‘No.’
Lisa could hear laughter in Callum’s voice. ‘Really? Why not? I’d really like to.’
‘She’s chasing the rabbit.’
‘She’s what?’
‘Chasing the rabbit.’ Callum giggled wildly. ‘And it’s really fast!’
Oh no!‘Do you mean Doc McFluffins?’
