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Chapter 12
The next morning is filled with mundane chores, like sorting out the laundry after my back-to-back trips and properly restocking the fridge, so it’s mid-afternoon by the time I pull up outside Ed and Charley’s house. The first thing that I notice is that her jolly blue Fiesta, which she adored, has been replaced by something bigger and probably better suited to carting around baby paraphernalia. No such compromises for Ed, I note, as his completely impractical Porsche is parked alongside it. I’ve got the presents I bought for them in Istanbul in a carrier bag, as well as a bottle of champagne and a lasagne to go in the freezer.
I ring the bell and listen. I can’t hear any crying, which has to be a good sign. After a few moments Ed flings open the door and envelops me in a hug.
“Madison! Lovely to see you. Do come in. Charley’s just feeding Amelia, so you’ve arrived at a good time.”
I hand over my bag of gifts and follow him through to their sitting room, where Charley is perched on the sofa, bottle-feeding the tiniest, most perfect-looking human being I think I’ve ever seen. Somehow, Amelia manages to look completely different in the flesh, even though she’s obviously the same baby I’ve seen in the photos. I’m not at all maternal, so the sudden rush of love I feel, both for Charley and her baby, catches me completely by surprise. For a moment I’m overwhelmed by the magic of the scene before me, lost in wonder that Charley grew this tiny new person inside her. I can feel my eyes filling with tears. Charley glances up and smiles at me. She looks tired and pale, with dark shadows under her eyes, but she is also radiant with happiness and pride. I want to wrap my arms around them both, but I think that’s probably impractical, so I stand there foolishly, unsure what to do with myself. Ed has vanished into the kitchen with the bag.
“Come and sit next to me,” Charley instructs. “She’s nearly finished, and then you can have a cuddle if you like.”
I gently lower myself onto the sofa next to her. I don’t want to risk disturbing Amelia, who has her eyes closed as she sucks intently on the bottle. While Charley finishes up, I look around me. Although most things look the same, there is plenty of evidence of how much the baby has changed everything for them. There is a pile of freshly laundered babygros on the side in the kitchen, obviously waiting to go upstairs, and the dining table appears to have been converted into a nappy changing station, with a pile of nappies, a mat, and a large tub of Sudocrem on it. There's a little recliner chair on the floor next to the sofa, with a mobile above it. Charley eases the teat out of Amelia’s mouth, causing her face to wrinkle with displeasure, and then gently places her over her shoulder, rubbing her back until she emits the most unladylike burp. I can’t help but laugh.
“There you go, Amelia. Go and have a cuddle with your Auntie Mads,” Charley says, and hands her over to me. I remember to support her head and, after a couple of slightly awkward manoeuvres, manage to nestle her into the crook of my arm. She doesn’t make any noise, but her eyes are wide open, her lips are moving gently, and her fingers are curling and uncurling constantly, as if she’s only just discovered them and is testing them out.
“Oh, Charley, she’s absolutely adorable!” I exclaim.
“Mm. Don’t be fooled. She looks like butter wouldn’t melt now, but when she gets a scream on, she can be a right little madam, can’t you sweetie?” She leans in towards the baby as she addresses her, and Amelia’s eyes lock on to her mother.
“Madison’s brought us champagne and a lasagne,” Ed announces, returning from the kitchen with two mugs of tea, which he sets down next to us.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Charley tells me. “It’s very kind though, thank you.”
“I just thought it might help to have a meal you didn’t have to cook,” I explain. “There are some presents too. Nothing big, just a couple of things I picked up while I was away.”
Ed brings in the small parcels and they start to unwrap them. Charley is delighted with the pretty bracelet I’ve got her, and Ed professes to love the silk tie I’ve bought. For Amelia I’ve bought a simple gold necklace that she can wear when she’s older, with a blue pendant on the end.
“What’s this?” Charley asks. “It’s very pretty.”
“It’s a Turkish Evil eye pendant,” I explain. “It’s supposed to ward off evil spirits. People in Turkey hang them in their homes, wear them, even put them on their pets. It’s supposed to keep her safe, if you believe in that kind of thing.”
“What a lovely idea. We’ll hang it in her room. Thinking of which, we have a question we’d like to ask you. Ed?”
Ed clears his throat. “Yes. We wondered if you would like to be Amelia’s godmother?”
“Of course, I’d love to!!”
“Excellent,” Ed declares. “We haven’t organised a date for the christening yet, but once we have some idea from the vicar, we’ll let you know.”
I spend a happy couple of hours with them, catching up on their news and filling them in on my trip with Toby. Amelia drifts off to sleep in my arms, and I find that I keep glancing down at her, marvelling at her perfection. When the time comes for me to leave, I gently hand her back to Charley, and almost tiptoe out of the house so as not to wake her.
There’s still a bit of time to kill before I’m due to meet Toby, so I decide to explore Sevenoaks and find him a studio warming gift if I can. I’ve already bought the champagne I promised; I picked it up at the same time as Ed and Charley’s, but I’d like to give him something a little more permanent as well. On one street I come across a hardware store, with bins and brushes displayed on the pavement outside. Looking through the windows, it quickly becomes clear that they sell all kinds of things for the home, so I wander inside. It turns out to be a real Aladdin's cave, with lots of different rooms displaying everything from DIY stuff to kitchenware. Remembering Toby's comments about drinking from mugs, I buy him two pint glasses, two tumblers, two wine glasses and two champagne flutes.
I follow his directions and find the studio in a somewhat down-at-heel parade of shops near the station. It looks unloved; the sign above the door is cracked and peeling, making the swirly writing difficult to decipher. Eventually I work out that it says ‘Dave Myers – Exquisite Memories’. In the window are a series of faded portraits, pet photos and wedding shots. I wouldn’t describe the photos as exquisite – clichéd and dated would be more accurate. One, featuring a faded image of a woman with big hair and shiny clothes, looks like it might have been there since the nineteen eighties. Next door on the left is a dingy looking greasy spoon café calling itself Nora's Diner. Large signwriting on the window advertises its “All Day Breakfast’s” and “Traditional Roast Diner's". I resist the urge to go inside and explain how plurals work or point out the unfortunate spelling mistake. On the other side of the studio is a dry cleaner, which seems to be thriving, if the large number of garment bags visible through the window and strong chemical smell are anything to go by.
The studio door is locked, so I ring the bell next to it and wait. Toby appears after a few moments and lets me in. He’s dressed in overalls, which are covered in white dust, and there’s also dust on his face and in his hair. For someone who is normally so fastidious about his appearance, it’s a bit of a shock.
“It’s OK, don’t dress up on my account,” I snigger.
“Ha ha. Be careful what you touch when we get in there. Everything’s very dusty and dirty.”
We pass through the front area (desk, couch for waiting customers, table with magazines, more clichéd photos in frames on the wall) into the studio at the back.
“Bloody hell, Toby, it’s massive!” I exclaim, looking around at the enormous room.
“Not bad, is it?” he replies, with pride evident in his voice. “It needs a lot of work, but I could see the potential as soon as I saw it. I’m going to completely gut the place and start again from scratch. Paul came and helped me move, and then we couldn’t resist making a start on the studio. We’ve made good progress already.”
At that point Paul appears through a door at the other end of the studio. He’s also wearing overalls, and is covered in dirt, like Toby. I feel suddenly out of place, like I’m distracting them from their work but, as Paul spots me, his face breaks out into a huge smile.
