A Little Love (30 page)

‘You all right, girl?’ Milly asked.

Pru looked up. She hadn’t heard her enter and didn’t have time to swipe the tears from her cheeks or change her expression. She nodded at her hands folded in her lap. ‘I’m fine.’

Later that evening Pru stood by the open window in her bedroom and scrolled through the contacts in her mobile phone. She stopped at the initials CM and pressed the number.

He answered almost immediately. The sound of his voice set her teeth on edge and made the little hairs on her neck stand up, but her hand remained uncharacteristically steady, something she could not have envisaged even just a few weeks ago.

Crying Micky snorted down the line. ‘Well, well, well, if it isn’t the elusive Miss Plum! I am honoured to be in receipt of a phone call. You’re lucky to have caught me, just back from a little trip overseas, stocking up you might say. Seen sense have we?’ He followed this with his irritating nasal laugh.

Pru dipped into her memory bank and pulled out the voice of her youth, the one she’d used before Trudy had so patiently coached her in how to ‘talk proper’, as Milly called it.

‘Hello, Micky. Yes, I have “seen sense”, as you put it.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. I thought that little display of defiance went on longer than was necessary. You could have saved us both the bother and rolled over sooner, if you’ll excuse the pun. You’ve got my account details, I expect to see a payment within the next twenty-four hours or there will be repercussions.’

‘What kind of repercussions?’

‘You need me to spell it out for you?’

‘I do,’ she whispered.

‘Well for a start that shopfront ain’t going to look too pretty with a dirty great lump of concrete sticking out of the window and a few choice words sprayed here and there. Might make your stuck-up punters ask a few questions, do you get me?’

Pru sighed loudly. ‘Oh yes, Micky, I get you. Or should I say, I’ve got you – this whole conversation – recorded, just in case. I don’t think extortion and blackmail are looked on very favourably.’

‘You can’t scare me, you fucking old bike.’

‘No, and you can’t scare me any more. I have stopped your payments and I shall pass this recording on to a close friend of mine. I shall tell him to do nothing yet, but to store it away for safekeeping. But if you contact me or any member of my family again then it will go straight to the police and I mean it.’

‘Is that right? You think you’re so clever! I’ll go to the press – sod the money, I’ll do it just so your customers know what you are! I’ll bring you down.’

Pru looked around her bedroom. Her eyes lingered on the photos of the people that she loved, the people that mattered, and on the stunning bouquet from Lady Miriam with her handwritten note of thanks for having made Bunny’s birthday so perfect.

‘You do that, Micky! Although I think you’ll find no one is really that interested. You’re about four days and a few hundred thousand copies too late.’ She pressed the button with her now trembling finger, ending the call. Then she wiped the sweat from her top lip, took several deep breaths and smiled at her reflection in the dressing-table mirror: she wouldn’t have the first clue how to record a telephone call.

For the first time in an age, Pru fell into a deep, worry-free sleep. Her phone shattered the peace in the early hours.

‘What’s up, love, are you okay?’ Pru spoke through the fog of sleep; a quick glance at her alarm clock told her it was three in the morning.

Meg’s voice came in short, breathless bursts. ‘Oh God, Pru! I think I’m having the baby! I’ve just had this watery stuff come out all over the kitchen floor and I’ve got waves of pain. I don’t know what to do!’

Pru sat bolt upright and closed her eyes. ‘Well the first thing is to keep calm. It will all be okay.’

‘It will all be okay!’ Meg repeated for her own benefit.

‘That’s my girl. Now listen to me very carefully, Meg.’

‘I don’t want to listen to you very carefully!’ Meg shouted. ‘Can’t you just come here?’

‘Remember about keeping calm?’

‘Yes,’ she squeaked.

‘Good. Now here’s the thing. I’ve been sick all night. I’ve got a terrible bug and I can’t risk giving that to you or the baby; that would be dreadful. You’ll have go to the hospital with Milly. I’ll call you a cab and the two of you go downstairs.’

‘What? No way! I’d rather go with you. Please, Pru!’

‘It’ll be fine. Just make sure you keep warm and stay calm.’

‘Oh God! I’m really scared. Can’t you just not breathe on me or something? Please.’ Meg’s breath was fast and nervous. She and Milly had started to break down barriers over the last day or so, it was true, and they might even have laid the kindling for a friendship, but the way Milly had treated her originally was still fresh in her mind. She wanted Pru by her side.

‘You have to keep calm, Meg. I’m sending Milly up now.’ She clicked off the call and looked at the photograph of Alfie. ‘Don’t look at me like that!’ she protested, then hurried along to Milly’s bedroom.

‘Mills?’ she hissed into the darkness.

‘What? What time is it?’ Milly clicked on her bedside lamp.

‘It’s three o’clock. Listen to me, I’ve got a terrible bug, I’ve been sick all night.’

‘Well I don’t bloody want it!’ Milly sat up in bed and shooed her away. ‘Get out!’

Pru held a flannel over her face. ‘Here’s the thing, Mills. Meg has gone into labour and you need to take her to the hospital. I would go myself, but I can’t risk giving this to her and the baby.’

‘Are you kidding me? You want me to go?’ Milly shook her head, casting around for her slippers.

‘Yes and hurry! She’s upstairs and starting to panic. I’ll call you a cab and it will all be fine. Just trust me on this, all right?’

‘Last time you said that to me it was when you were trying to make me jump over the chicken coop with a pair of pants over my eyes as a blindfold. You said it’d be fine and I ended up with eight stitches in my leg.’

‘I was nine, for God’s sake!’

‘You were a silly cow then.’

‘And you were a daft moo. Still are,’ Pru whispered back as she crept from Milly’s bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later Pru stood in her dressing gown with her ear pressed to her front door. She heard the two of them descending the stairs.

‘Careful now, watch your step,’ Milly coaxed.

‘Have you got my bag?’ Meg asked.

‘Yep, don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got your bag right here. You’re going to be just fine.’

Pru smiled into her cup of tea, nibbled her toast and honey and closed her eyes. Special bonds sometimes had to be nurtured.

Pru donned her sunglasses and then removed them, deciding they made her far more conspicuous at this time in the morning. She glanced up and down Curzon Street: no one stood out and she couldn’t see any lenses pointing in her direction. She calmly hailed a cab and jumped in, her first public outing since the story had broken.

It was with a twist to her stomach that Pru walked the corridor of St Thomas’s, remembering all too vividly the last time she had been inside the building on that dreadful night a couple of months ago. In truth, it felt like a lifetime ago. God only knew how it would make Meg feel being under this roof again.

She rode the lift to the sixth floor and took a deep breath before the lift doors opened. She sometimes felt almost guilty in the company of women who were mothers, as if she hadn’t quite fulfilled her purpose. At the age of twenty, she’d felt the slight stir of panic at the fact she was still single. By thirty, with the constant haranguing of her mother echoing in her ears, that slight swell had become a mini tornado, the swirl of which made sleep impossible and fuelled bad dreams. In her forties, it had been quashed, coming full circle, replaced by a calm acceptance. But still it had the power to overwhelm her with a jealousy so acute it could make her weep. Christopher had been right, you did actually miss them the most in your later years, when you had time on your hands and were able to draw up a list of regrets, successes and maybes. Pru knew that for her list of regrets she would require at least one extra sheet of paper.

She wandered past couples sitting with heads close together, staring at their tightly wrapped pink-faced new arrivals as if in a bubble, looking bewildered and ecstatic in equal measure. As directed by the smiley nurse, she stopped at the foot of the bed at the far end of the ward. Her heart lifted with joy. Meg lay against the pillows and slept. She looked pale and tired, but peaceful. Milly sat in the tall green vinyl wingback chair to the side of the bed. In her arms lay a little bundle from which poked a tiny arm and fingers coiled into a fist that punched the air. Milly kissed the miniature fingers and smoothed the fine covering of hair on the baby’s head. ‘Sssssh,’ she cooed, even though the baby hadn’t made a sound.

Pru crept forward and bent down, hovering by the side of the chair. Milly didn’t take her eyes off the baby. ‘Hello there, Aunty Pru. Meet Lucas William.’

Pru looked at the crumpled face and squashed nose of the little boy who slept in her cousin’s arms.

‘Isn’t he absolutely beautiful?’

Pru nodded. ‘Yes, he really is. Are you okay?’

‘I am. Meg was amazing.’

‘Was she?’ Pru choked back the tears that threatened to spill. She wished she had been there to witness it all.

‘She was. She was frightened, we both were, it was really scary. But they talked us through everything and she kept calm. Little Lucas couldn’t make up his mind whether he was coming or not, so things kept slowing down and then speeding up and then they slowed and finally it was a sprint finish! It’s been the most amazing night of my life. I’m exhausted and ecstatic all at the same time. I’ve laughed and cried and, most amazing of all, I got to see this little fella arriving in the world!’

‘You are very lucky, that’s a rare thing.’

‘It is that, mate.’ Milly continued to talk quickly, partly through excitement and partly because she was running on nervous energy. ‘It got pretty terrifying at times and I wasn’t even at the business end, if you get my drift.’

‘I get your drift, Mills.’

‘What you and Bobby had was special, Pru. I guess I was a bit jealous. You were her mum and I was always her aunty.’ Milly looked Pru straight in the eye. ‘I can see that now and it’s okay.’

Pru was unable to speak, storing away the sweetest words she had ever heard.

‘And you know, Pru, last night, seeing Lucas arrive, it’s kind of put things into perspective. It’s what life is, isn’t it? Being born and then dying, with a chunk in between that you have to make the best of, because that’s all we’ve got, isn’t it?’

‘Pretty much, love. Yes.’

‘Oh, you brought muffins!’ Milly licked her lips at the sight of the wicker basket full of little white-chocolate muffins, artfully stacked, with blue ribbons streaming from the handle. ‘They look gorgeous, what a great idea.’

‘I’m sure Meg’ll love them, won’t she?’ Pru felt a pang of sadness for her darling Bobby, remembering how she’d practically demanded just such a basket of muffins for her own baby… Henry, that was it.

‘Meg was very calm. Even when it got bad, she was incredible. A real trouper!’

‘I couldn’t have done it without you, Milly,’ Meg piped up from the bed.

‘Hey, she’s awake!’

Pru bent over and gave her a hug. ‘I am really proud of you, Meg. I’m really proud of you both.’

‘Do you want to cuddle him?’ Milly held Lucas up.

‘Is that all right?’ She checked with Meg.

‘Don’t be daft, course it is!’

Gingerly Pru took the baby into her arms. It felt wonderful. It didn’t matter that her childbearing days were behind her; her pulse raced and her womb pulsed as she nuzzled him close to her skin, inhaling the gorgeous scent of him. ‘Hello, Lucas, hello darling!’

He made a small mewling noise.

‘He’s due a feed actually.’ Milly looked at her watch.

Pru handed him to his mum and watched, fascinated as he latched on and started to guzzle. ‘Look at you, you’re an absolute natural.’

‘I’m not so sure about that. I’m shit scared actually.’

‘I’m sure it’s the same for everyone in this room. It’s just that some are better at hiding it than others.’

‘I’ve been lying here feeling quite sad. I mean, happy, obviously, that I’ve got Lucas. But I feel a bit like I’ve let him down already.’

‘Well of course you haven’t, he’s only just arrived!’ Milly shook her head.

‘I know, but I keep looking at all the other babies, who are lying there with mums and dads and already I’ve short-changed him, haven’t I? He’s only got me.’

‘No, he’s got us!’ Pru insisted. ‘You’re not on your own, Meg.’

‘I want to thank you, Pru, for everything. You’ve been amazing to me and you didn’t have to be. I don’t know what we’d have done without you, I really don’t.’

Milly sat down on the edge of Meg’s bed. ‘I was thinking we could turn the little room into a nursery. We could paint it and get him nice things. I’d love that. I can help you!’

Pru turned to her cousin. ‘I don’t think I have ever been more proud of you than I am at this very moment. You are wonderful.’

Milly grinned and rubbed Pru’s back. ‘You look good, Pru. How’s your bug?’

‘What bug?’

‘I thought as much!’ Milly shook her head.

‘It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it, Pru?’ Meg smiled at Lucas, who was starting to look a little sleepy. ‘Who’d have thought we’d have ended up here, hey, mate?’

‘Life is never what you plan, trust me.’ Pru blinked away the image of waking up with Christopher watching over her.

‘I wish…’ Meg stuttered.

‘You wish what, Meg?’ Pru asked.

‘I wish Bill was here and I wish Lucas had someone he was related to – apart from you two of course.’ She beamed. ‘But a proper blood relative like me. It’s what I wanted all those years when I was in foster care, someone who had my blood in their veins. I know it sounds stupid, but when you haven’t got it, it becomes important.’

Pru breathed in the cool evening air as she scrolled through the contacts in her phone, locating not Isabel’s number but Christopher’s. Her finger hovered over it. She had the perfect excuse for making contact. But then she thought better of it; why sprinkle salt on her wound? Hearing his off-hand tone and cool, staccato delivery would only make her feel worse and she was in no mood to forgive him.