Page 37 of Be More Capybara

The midwife saved him from analysing the awful truth any further. ‘Time for your ultrasound, Lucy.’

26

HELEN

Helen and Mark walked back to his car.

‘So what did you think?’ he asked.

‘I think the treehouses looked fab, but I wouldn’t go for the wenge wood floorboards - too dark.’

‘Good point.’

She clipped the seatbelt in place just as her phone buzzed. A text from Nigel. Her heart skipped a beat again. Bloody perimenopause. She unlocked the phone and read the message. Not the ‘Hi! How are you?’ she’d been hoping for.

‘Everything ok?’ Mark asked as he turned on the engine.

‘I think you should check your phone.’

He did as she suggested. ‘What am I looking for?’

‘A phone call or a text.’

He shook his head.

‘From Lucy or Nigel?’

Mark looked panicky. ‘What do you mean? I haven’t got a signal.’

‘It’s going to be alright, but Nigel’s taken Lucy to hospital.’

‘He’s done what?’

‘To get her checked out.’

She could see the penny drop. Mark tossed his phone into Helen’s lap, slammed the car into first and accelerated up the drive. ‘Programme the satnav, will you,’ he said as he pulled out onto the main road.

Helen gripped the passenger seat. Mark had driven like his mother on the way here. She had a feeling his driving was about to become even worse. She looked at the ETA on the satnav screen. Great! She was in for a white-knuckle ride for the next thirty minutes.

27

NIGEL

Nigel perched on the chair while Lucy made herself comfortable on the couch in the sonographer’s room.

‘It will feel very cold,’ Pam, senior sonographer, said as she squeezed gel onto Lucy’s bare belly. Nigel looked the other way. This felt a little too intimate, especially considering it wasn’t that long ago they’d been arch enemies, from Lucy’s point of view anyway.

‘No point getting squeamish, Daddy. It’s going to be even worse in a few months,’ Pam said gleefully.

Nigel gave her a fixed grin before taking a strong interest in the poster of placental anomalies on the wall opposite, trying to make sense of the sea of bright colours that looked more like a weather map than something medical.

‘What a lovely, strong heartbeat.’ Pam sounded thrilled.

Nigel couldn’t resist the urge to look at the fuzzy grey image on the screen. It always amazed him how they made sense of it all. For a moment, he was back in the swanky office of Madison’s ob-gyn on Park Avenue, excitedly watching images of his babies magically appear. And now those babies and their mother were ignoring him. Try not to think about that. You’re supposed to be the relieved father.

Lucy grinned at him. ‘That’s good news, isn’t it?’ She squeezed Nigel’s hand.

He nodded. It was good news. The dash to the hospital had been worth it.