Buch lesen: «Wildflower Park Series»

Chapter Thirty-One

Anna watched Sophie hugging her bump as she panted fast. This was it – she was going into labour in Wildflower Park in the middle of a fireworks display. It was dark and cold and the last place you’d want to give birth.

‘Right!’ said Anna and Hudson together, both appearing to want to take charge of the situation. Anna raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll call Dave. You call an ambulance,’ instructed Anna. Hudson didn’t argue and got straight on his phone.

‘Dave. The baby’s on its way. Where the hell are you?’

‘Crap. I’m stuck in traffic about three miles from home. It’s total gridlock. Tell her to hold on,’ said Dave.

‘You can tell her,’ she said, holding the phone to Sophie’s ear for him to repeat his request.

‘Hold on? You f—’ Thankfully everything Sophie said was drowned out by the stream of fireworks whizzing into the sky.

‘Ambulance is on its way,’ said Hudson. ‘They’ll come to the main entrance. I’m guessing they’ll take her on a stretcher.’ The operator was still on the phone.

‘I don’t want to go on a stretcher,’ wailed Sophie. Anna felt for the ambulance crew; she was a whole lot of person to carry across the park.

Hudson must have been having the same thoughts. He whispered to Anna. ‘Can they manage her all the way from here?’

‘I heard that, you know!’ said Sophie and she started to groan loudly.

Anna swivelled round. ‘There aren’t many other options.’ She surveyed the vast crowd around them as the fireworks continued to crash and bloom above.

Hudson was speaking to the emergency services operator and his expression was grim. He whispered to Anna, ‘Ambulance is stuck in traffic. Gridlock. About three—’

‘Miles away,’ finished Anna. ‘Bugger. Dave’s stuck in the same traffic jam.’ Sophie let out a strangled cry. ‘We have to move her,’ Anna said, turning to Hudson. ‘Either to the main entrance or inside. She can’t stay here.’ Anna pointed to Sophie’s house. ‘That’s her house.’

Hudson thrust his phone at Anna. ‘I’ve got an idea.’ He squeezed his way through the immediate crowd and was swallowed by the darkness.

Anna rubbed Sophie’s back whilst listening to updates from the ambulance service and oohing and ahhing at the fireworks with Petal. It was multitasking at its most extreme.

She wished Hudson hadn’t left her. Every time Sophie winced she felt frightened and helpless. The fireworks display came to an impressive crescendo and the crowd in the park erupted into applause, including the children. With the fireworks over it was dark again and a wind whipped around them. Anna feared for the baby’s safety if it arrived now.

After a few minutes she heard Hudson’s voice over the crowd. The people started to disperse and Hudson emerged pushing a very old wheelbarrow. Sophie looked up. ‘Bloody hell. You have to be joking.’

‘You need to get to hospital,’ said Hudson and he pointed at the wheelbarrow. ‘Cinders, your carriage awaits.’

‘I am not going all the way in that thing.’

‘No, but we might be able to get you closer to the ambulance.’

Sophie’s face registered alarm. ‘I don’t think there’s time. It’s coming.’

Hudson rushed to her with the wheelbarrow, which was full of potato sacks. ‘Come on,’ he said, like it was the most normal thing to hop in a wheelbarrow. Sophie gave him a murderous glare but with a lot of help from him and Anna she clambered on board.

‘If this bollarding thing breaks.’

‘All stops to Birmingham hospital,’ said Hudson, and he set off across the park at an impressive pace.

‘My go next,’ shouted Arlo, clapping his hands.

Anna relayed the plan to the operator and they confirmed the ambulance was making progress and should be at the main gates in a few minutes. ‘Perfect timing,’ said Anna, herding the children after Hudson.

‘Arghhhhhhhhh!’ screamed Sophie.

‘Arghhhhhhhhh!’ hollered Hudson hitting a pothole and almost wrenching the barrow from his fingers. ‘Don’t you dare give birth in the wheelbarrow. I can’t push two of you.’

‘You’re about as funny as haemorrhoids,’ said Sophie, clamping her teeth together and making a strangled screech.

They could hear the approaching siren and it spurred them all on. The gates came into sight and blue lights flooded the entrance.

The paramedics quickly took over and within minutes Sophie was safely in the back of the ambulance. Anna went to get in with Petal in her arms and the paramedic stopped her. ‘Sorry, love, no children allowed in the ambulance.’

‘But they’re her children,’ protested Anna.

‘Doesn’t matter. Sorry.’

Anna watched Hudson who had Arlo by the hand and was showing him round the ambulance. ‘Hudson, you’ll have to go with her.’

‘Me?’ His eyebrows shot up in alarm. ‘I’ll take the kids and you go.’ He held up Arlo’s hand.

Anna was torn. She tried to pass Petal to Hudson but she started to cry and clung to Anna. Anna’s expression conveyed exactly what needed to happen.

‘Okay,’ said Hudson, and he climbed in the back while the paramedics did final checks and started to close the doors.

Anna heard heavy breathing behind her. ‘Wait! I’m here, I’m … here …’ wheezed Dave, dashing towards the ambulance.

‘Plugging hell, Dave, talk about last minute,’ said Sophie, pulling the oxygen mask off her face but the look of relief was evident.

Dave motioned for Hudson to get out but he was already undoing his seatbelt. ‘Good luck, buddy,’ said Hudson, vacating the spot next to Sophie. She gave a weak wave as the doors shut. The siren whooped into life and the ambulance pulled away. Arlo was shouting and clapping excitedly and Petal was copying.

The siren ebbed away and they were left standing together in the dark. Hudson rubbed sweat from his forehead. ‘I had better return this,’ he said, motioning towards the wheelbarrow.

Anna frowned. ‘How the hell did you get a wheelbarrow over the wall?’

Hudson gave a mysterious smile. ‘Buy me a beer and I’ll tell you.’

‘I have coffee or hot chocolate.’

‘Hot chocolate!’ shouted Arlo. ‘Can I have marshmallows in mine, Anna?’

‘What do we say?’ asked Anna.

‘Now!’ shouted Arlo. Anna gave him a hard stare. ‘Please,’ said Arlo reluctantly.

She took him by the hand. ‘Come on, let’s get you both in the warm.’ And they followed Hudson and the wheelbarrow across the park.

Back in the warmth of Sophie’s kitchen, Anna made hot chocolate and sat Petal in her high chair with a sippy cup of warm milk. She sat down at the table near to Petal ready to retrieve her cup when she dropped it. Hudson took off his jacket and joined her.

‘You were a bit of a hero back there,’ she said, glancing at him over her steaming mug.

‘All part of the service, ma’am.’ He sounded more American than ever.

‘I’ve got to ask. Why were you even here tonight?’ Anna couldn’t phrase it any better.

Hudson coughed. ‘I feel bad about the whole New York thing. I thought I’d try and straighten things out between us. You said you’d be at the fireworks. It wasn’t hard to find you.’

‘Must have been fairly hard to get in though. It was strictly ticket only and it was sold out.’ The committee members had been on every entrance turning people away. Anna peered at him closely.

‘Ah. You got me. I jumped the railings.’

‘Jumped!’ Anna was startled.

‘No, no. I mean I climbed up and kinda fell down the other side.’ He broke eye contact and sipped his hot chocolate.

They were quiet for a bit – the only noise the vigorous sucking from Petal and her sippy cup.

‘How’s Maurice?’ asked Hudson.

‘He’s loving having his own door. He’s not happy about his balls going through the washing machine though.’

Hudson’s eyebrows raised quickly. ‘I wouldn’t be happy either.’

Anna gave him a sideways look. ‘They’re toy sponge balls. He chases them and they got caught up with a pile of washing.’

Hudson took a deep breath and Anna watched him. ‘There was something I wa—’

Anna’s phone sprang into life and she grabbed it up, surprised to see it was Liam calling. What did he want? She held a finger up to Hudson.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Anna. How are you?’

‘I’m fine thanks.’ She could do without the small talk. ‘What’s up?’

‘Does there need to be something up for me to call you?’

Hudson waved at her and indicated he was going to go; Anna shook her head. ‘Liam, I’m kind of busy …’

‘Anna, we really need to have a proper chat.’

‘About what?’

‘Us, Anna. We made a mistake. I made a mistake. I know I’ve said it before but I don’t think you realise how serious I am. I want you back.’ She couldn’t ignore the sorrow in his voice.

‘Look—’

‘Anna!’ shouted Arlo and Anna was out of the kitchen in a flash and into the living room.

‘Sorry, Liam. I’ve gotta go.’

Anna’s eyes frantically swept around the room but Arlo was sitting on the sofa with the TV on and everything looked fine. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Can you put the Zombies on. Pleeeeease.’ He grinned at her.

‘Nope. Kids’ TV or bed. Your choice.’

‘O-kay. T-V.’

As she reached the hall Hudson came out of the kitchen putting his jacket on. ‘What did Liam want?’

‘He wants to get back together,’ she said very matter-of-factly.

‘Right.’ Hudson pressed his lips together tightly.

‘It’s okay. You’re still my fake boyfriend.’

‘Phew.’ They both looked apprehensively at each other. ‘I’m going to make a move.’

‘Okay.’ Anna had hoped once she’d settled Arlo she’d have some adult company for what was likely to be a long night. ‘Actually, could you do me one more favour?’

‘Sure.’

‘I’ve not been home to feed Maurice and he’s going to be eating the furniture before long. Here’s my keys. His food is in the cupboard under the sink.’

‘No, problem. Do you need anything else? Nightwear? Toothbrush?’

She did but she didn’t want him looking through her stuff. ‘No, just the cat feeding would be great. Thanks.’

‘I won’t go snooping. Cross my heart.’ He gave her a butter-wouldn’t-melt look.

‘Okay. Toothbrush and there’s a washbag on the windowsill in the bathroom with most of my stuff. That’d be great. Thanks.’

Hudson was kicking himself as he left Sophie’s house. He had come with a clear mission for this evening and he had been derailed twice. Was it an omen? Was the universe trying to tell him something? He jogged round to Anna’s front door and let himself in. Maurice came to see him or more likely to point out that he hadn’t been fed.

‘Hey, Maurice. Sorry to hear about your balls, big guy.’ Hudson gave him a fuss and tried to encourage him to eat. Maurice sniffed the food and on deciding it wasn’t poisoned he began to eat. Hudson soon found the washbag and was double-checking the door was properly locked when he was aware someone was standing behind him.

He swung round and came face to face with Connor. ‘Hey, buddy, you gave me a start. You looking for Anna?’

‘Is she okay?’ Connor nodded at the floral washbag in Hudson’s hand.

‘Yeah, she’s fine. Sophie has gone into labour. Anna’s babysitting and she needed some stuff.’ He held up the washbag as evidence. ‘I’m taking it back now.’ Hudson checked the door again.

‘I’ll walk with you,’ said Connor, falling in step.

‘Did you and Anna have plans tonight?’ asked Hudson.

Connor puffed out his cheeks. ‘Look you seem like a decent bloke but just so we’re clear – me and Anna are in a relationship and things are going great. I’d be grateful if you’d respect that.’

Hudson’s eyebrows puckered. ‘Right. Of course.’

‘You don’t mind me mentioning it, do you?’

‘No. I mean …’ He wanted to say more but this wasn’t the right time and Connor certainly wasn’t the right person. ‘I’m pleased for you both.’ Hudson gave Connor a convivial pat on the shoulder.

‘Thanks. She’s something else, isn’t she?’

‘Yeah. You’ve got one of the best there.’ Hudson was relieved when they reached Sophie’s house. ‘You know, I don’t even need to come in. Here.’ He handed Connor the washbag and keys. ‘Tell her I’ll see at work. Night.’

‘Will do. Bye.’ Connor waited on the steps and watched Hudson leave before knocking.

Anna opened the door with a beaming smile, which faltered for the briefest of moments. She looked past Connor. ‘Have you seen …’

‘Hudson gave me this,’ he said, handing over the washbag. ‘He had to rush off somewhere.’ Connor shrugged.

‘Did he give you my keys?’

‘Oh, yeah. Here.’ He handed them over. ‘Can I come in?’

‘I’m actually in the middle of putting Arlo to bed and I can’t leave him for one second. Sorry. Can I call you?’

Connor’s expression was unreadable. ‘Sure. You do what you need to.’

‘Thanks.’ She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and shut the door.

‘Anna! Anna!’ called Arlo urgently from upstairs.

‘Yes, Arlo?’ replied Anna already heading in his direction.

‘I’ve done a huge poo! Come and see.’ There was a long pause. ‘Please!’

Anna was feeding a breakfast of mushed Weetabix to Petal whilst simultaneously discussing the career opportunities of being a Viking with Arlo when her mobile began vibrating along the worktop.

‘Hi, Dave,’ she said, before mouthing to Arlo. ‘It’s Daddy.’

‘Hello, Daddy,’ shouted Arlo.

‘Hi, son,’ replied Dave. Anna put him on speakerphone. ‘Any news?’

‘Okay. Yes, we have news. Hey, kids, you’ve got a brand-new … baby …’ there was a long pause ‘… brother.’

‘Yay!’ shouted Arlo.

‘Ay!’ shouted Petal and she backhanded her Weetabix bowl sending it flying in spectacular fashion across the kitchen, splattering both Anna and Arlo. Arlo started to laugh.

‘Congratulations,’ said Anna, wiping the worst of the Weetabix assault off her top.

Arlo was frowning. ‘Do I have to share my toys?’

Anna flopped onto the sofa at the end of the longest day of her life. She had been babysitting for twenty-four hours straight. She had no idea how Sophie did it. She was exhausted. She’d taken them both out to the soft play centre, which thankfully had taken up most of the day. Just getting out of the house with two small children needed a project plan.

The play centre was a big eye-opener for Anna. Whilst most of the other women seemed focused on talking animatedly with friends whilst mainlining lattes, their children were running riot like crazed banshees or, as she began to realise, like children at a soft play centre. She’d planned to set herself up with Petal in the baby area while Arlo burned off some of his overflowing energy supplies, but Anna found herself scooping Petal up every other minute as high-speed sweaty children hurdled her. It was incredibly stressful.

They had spent the remainder of the afternoon in the park kicking up the autumn leaves and looking for squirrels. Oddly enough, despite Arlo shouting ‘HERE, SQUIRRELS!’ at the top of his voice, they hadn’t even seen a whisker.

Anna found her eyes were closing when a key in the door made her come to. She crept into the hall.

‘Congratulations,’ she said, meeting Dave and Sophie at the door. ‘Kids are asleep,’ she added, as they slunk inside.

‘Thanks,’ said Sophie. They all cooed over the tiny baby in the overly large car seat. He was sound asleep, his rosebud lips pouting gently.

‘He’s beautiful,’ said Anna.

Sophie angled her head towards the baby. ‘Dave thinks he looks like Churchill.’

Dave chuckled. ‘All babies look like Churchill – it’s a well-known fact. He’s still beautiful though.’

Sophie mouthed, ‘At least he doesn’t look like the Kraken.’

Anna hid her laughter by pulling her into a hug. ‘How are you?’ she asked. Sophie was pale.

‘Okay,’ she said, but her expression told a different story. ‘It was probably the easiest of the births, certainly the quickest. But still, no walk in the park. Unfortunately, they had to cut my rings off.’ She waved her bare left hand sadly.

‘Drinks machine was better this time,’ chipped in Dave and he went to get the bags from the car. Sophie rolled her eyes.

‘He kept turning the radio up to drown me out,’ she said, although Anna could tell she wasn’t really cross about it.

‘Were you being a bit shouty?’

‘You would too if you’d almost delivered your child in a wheelbarrow.’ They both laughed.

Dave reappeared. ‘I’ll put this lot upstairs. You sit down,’ whispered Dave.

‘Not after what they’ve done to my undercarriage. I may never sit down again.’

‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Anna cut in, keen not to hear about an episiotomy again.

‘Lovely, and you can update me on everything. Still no caffeine for me, I’m breastfeeding.’ Sophie pulled a disgruntled face and shuffled off to the living room.

Anna was struggling to remember anything before the babysitting. Was this what it was like for parents?

She took the drinks through and joined Sophie and Dave in the living room. Anna scooched herself round and peered at the scrunched-up bundle who was now being cradled by his mother. ‘Does he have a name yet?’

Sophie smiled at Dave who was eyeing the scene fondly. ‘We’re thinking of Reuben.’

‘I like it,’ said Anna, failing to hide her surprise at liking the name. She’d been expecting something more obscure.

‘Reuben David Butterworth,’ said Sophie, glancing up and giving Dave an indulgent look.

‘It was my great-grandad’s name,’ said Dave proudly.

‘It’s lovely and it suits him.’ Anna stroked the baby’s cheek and he screwed up his face and for a moment she could see what Dave meant about the Churchill resemblance.