Perfect Daughter (35 page)

‘Ooh, Dad, I’ve got these little shooting pains travelling from my spine across my tummy and down the tops of my legs.’

Pete stared at her, feeling helpless, remembering the day he’d watched her being born. He wished he could take the pain for her.

Martha started to cry. ‘I don’t feel too good.’

‘Oh, love! It’s okay, I promise, it will all be okay.’ Jacks wrapped her arms around her daughter, rocking her as best she could.

Martha bent forward. ‘I’m a bit scared.’

‘Course you are, but there’s no need to be, you’re going to be in the very best hands.’

‘Martha?’ Gideon called from the bathroom doorway, bare chested and with a towel wrapped round his waist. ‘Where are you? You okay?’

‘I think I’ve started properly now. This feels different. We need to get going!’ She leant against the stack of boxes in the hallway.

‘I’ll grab the bag.’ Gideon raced into their bedroom, threw on his jeans and a T-shirt and hurtled down the stairs with Martha’s overnight bag and the car keys. ‘Come on, babe, let’s get you back to the hospital. It’ll be okay, don’t worry. Jacks, you and Pete meet us there. Ivor said to pop Jonty in with him and Ange if the baby came at night. Can you do that?’ he asked as he ushered his girlfriend out of the front door and into the car, fastening the seatbelt over her bump.

Jacks nodded from the doorstep, admiring the way the boy was taking care of his family. ‘We’ll be there as soon as we can.’

‘Please hurry!’ Martha shouted through the window as the car pulled away.

‘Will she be okay?’ Pete asked.

Jacks took a deep breath. ‘Yes, of course. But seeing her like that makes me realise she’s only a little girl, really, isn’t she?’ She shoved the remnants of a bag of chips into Pete’s hands and ran into the house to shepherd Jonty next door.

Jacks and Pete sat in the waiting room, which was a lot quieter than it had been earlier.

‘Get everything sorted for work?’

Pete paused. ‘It wasn’t work, love.’

‘Oh?’ Jacks looked at him quizzically.

‘I went to see Sven.’

‘Oh god, Pete! I…’

‘No. There’s no need to say anything,’ he interrupted her. ‘It’s all sorted.’ He nodded. ‘All sorted.’

‘I love you Pete.’ She squeezed his hand.

‘Me too. Our first grandchild, eh?’ He shook his head.

‘Funny, isn’t it, that this is where Martha was born. And me! It makes me think about my mum.’

Jacks rested her head on his shoulder and he inhaled the scent of her. ‘Ah Ida, bless her.’ He whispered as he held her. ‘I feel quite sorry for Sven, actually.’

‘You do? Why?’ Jacks looked up at her husband.

‘Because for a simple twist in fate and timing, he could have had you. He’s got everything, Jacks, all that money, flash car, boats, but I tell you what, he’s got nothing. Absolutely nothing.’

‘Sure you wouldn’t like to swap me for a motorbike and a new van?’

‘No!’ He laughed. ‘Well, it depends. What capacity is this new van?’

‘Bloody charming!’ She laughed as he reached over to kiss her.

The swing doors flew open and in rushed Allison. ‘Have I missed anything?’ she panted.

‘No. It’s all good. They’ve taken her through to the delivery suite and Gideon’s with her. Guess we just wait.’

‘Got any more of them sucking sweets, Jacks?’ Pete asked as he rubbed his stomach.

‘’Fraid not.’ She laughed, knowing he was reminding her about Richard Frost.

What seemed like hours later, Jacks gave a start and shook her head vigorously. There was a fraction of a second when she didn’t know where she was and she thought she’d heard her mum’s bell.

‘It’s okay,’ Pete reassured her. ‘You nodded off.’

Gideon was standing in front of them wearing a blue hat that looked like it had been made out of a Jeyes cloth and a green hospital gown. He surveyed the small group of family that now crowded round him. Unable to draw breath as the tears coursed down his face, he said, ‘Oh God, Martha is so amazing. I knew I loved her before…’ He sniffed. ‘But I never knew I could love her as much as I do now. She’s amazing. She worked so hard. I’m so proud of her. She did brilliantly, she really did.’

Jacks and Pete both got tearful too as they held each other tight.
Clever, clever Martha!

‘Oh, Gideon, that’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you both. What is it?’ Allison chipped in, beaming, her hands clasped in anticipation under her chin.

‘A baby! A beautiful baby!’ Gideon gave in to the next wave of tears that swamped him. Pete slapped his back and fought his own emotion.

‘Gideon?’ Jacks asked firmly.

‘Yes?’ he said, looking slightly bewildered.

‘This baby that Martha has just had.’

‘Yes, Jacks?’ he sobbed.

‘Is it a boy or a girl?’

He stood tall, and announced with pride, ‘It’s a girl, a little girl.’

All four stood crying and drawing breath, letting this wonderful fact sink in.

‘You go first.’ Allison placed her hand on Jacks’ back, urging her forward.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, of course. She’ll be wanting to see her mum.’ Allison nodded.

Jacks followed Gideon into the small anteroom off the delivery suite where Martha lay. She gulped, feeling quite overcome with emotion as she saw her little girl, who beamed despite her obvious fatigue, cradling her daughter.

‘Oh, Mum!’ Martha cooed. ‘Look at her! She’s so beautiful!’

Jacks bent down and placed her finger in her granddaughter’s tiny palm. ‘Oh, Martha! She’s amazing. Hello! Hello, darling girl!’ The little girl curled her long fingers around her nan’s, holding on for all she was worth. ‘Look at that! She’s so strong and so clever! She’s holding my hand and she’s got quite a grip!’
She’s going to be a piano player, I can see it now! She’ll play at the Albert Hall in a long taffeta gown and the posters will all have ‘Sold Out!’ pasted over them as all the tickets will have been snapped up. Pete and I can sit in a box and watch everyone watching her!

‘What’s her name?’ Jacks asked, unable to tear her gaze from her granddaughter.

‘Maggie. Meet Miss Maggie Ida Parks.’

‘Oh, that’s lovely! Hello, Maggie. Hello, my clever, clever girl! You are so beautiful and clever, just like your mum. You are perfect.’

Epilogue

‘Pete?’ Jacks shouted up the stairs. There was no answer. ‘Pete!’ she yelled again, louder.

‘What, woman? For God’s sake! I was in the bathroom!’ he shouted from the landing.

‘Are you ready? I do not want to be late!’ she hollered.

‘Not quite, no, but if you hadn’t called me, I would be!’

Jacks tutted.

‘Thought we weren’t meant to shout up and down the stairs!’ Jonty yelled from the top floor.

‘Very funny, mister. You get down here now too. Say goodbye to your mates. We’ve got a very important birthday party to get to.’

Jacks put her lipstick on in the hall mirror while three pairs of feet hammered their way down the stairs, shaking the rafters.

‘Thanks for having me!’ Milo shouted as he sat on the floor by the front door to put his trainers on. Jacks was very strict on her no-shoes policy, wanting to preserve the carpet in its pristine state for as long as possible. Milo made for the street, where his mum sat in the car, waiting to give him and Elliot a lift home.

‘You’re welcome, love.’ Jacks smiled at him, waving her hand at his mum through the open door.

‘It was a great sleepover!’ Elliot offered as he followed Milo.

‘Good. No doubt Jonty will be having another one very soon.’

She waved the boys off and went to collect the cake. It sat on the shiny worktop in the new kitchen she had helped Pete design. She knew she would never get sick of walking into the big open-plan space and seeing her clutter-free surfaces and shiny chrome cooker. And of course her beloved conservatory, which spanned the width of their house in Sunnyside Road. Gideon and Pete’s business was going from strength to strength.

Pete walked in behind her. ‘Ooh, you smell nice,’ she said as she inhaled his lemony scent. ‘What do you think, Pete? Does this cake look okay? I’m a bit worried about it; maybe I should have bought one instead? Shall I nip up the shop and get one? There’s still time.’

Pete knew how many hours she had spent baking and icing Maggie’s fifth birthday cake and the time she had taken to mix just the right shade of pink icing. He squinted at it as he slipped on his smart trainers and decided not to mention that the wording looked very much like ‘Happy Birthday Moggie’.

‘It’s perfect, love. You’ve done a great job. You could rival that Mary Berry.’

‘I doubt that!’ she scoffed, secretly delighted by his compliment.

The three of them piled into the car and Jacks held the cake on her lap. ‘Go steady, Pete!’ she yelped as he drove round the one-way system and on to Gideon and Martha’s beautiful Victorian villa on the seafront.

Gideon opened the wide front door and stood back. ‘Blimey, didn’t recognise you in your jeans, Pete!’ He smiled.

‘You can laugh, but putting on a suit each day makes me feel the part,’ Pete replied. ‘It’s all right for the lads to be in their scruffs on the forecourts, but when I turn up, at whichever branch, they expect their business manager to be dressed accordingly!’

‘Yes, boss. Anyway, let’s see this cake we’ve heard so much about!’ Gideon clapped his hands as he bent down to kiss Jacks and peek at the cake. ‘Why have you made a cake for the cat?’

Pete stood behind his wife making hand gestures at Gideon.

‘It says “Maggie”!’ Jacks answered firmly.

‘Oh, right. My mistake.’ Gideon grimaced and led the procession into the vast kitchen, winking at Pete.

Maggie was sitting on the floor, with Aunty Gina, Allison and Richard all watching her and oohing and clapping as she tore the paper from her presents.

‘Thank you! Mummy, look!’ she shouted as she added a tiara and a backpack to the pile of many similarly princess-themed items.

‘There she is, the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world!’ Jacks gushed.
My little concert pianist!

‘Nanny! I got a new tiara!’ Maggie clapped and waved at her favourite person.

‘Hello, my darling. How lovely! I’m coming for a cuddle in a minute. I’ll just put your cake down.’

‘I need you now, Nanny! I need to sit on your lap, I’ve been waiting for you all day!’ she whined.

‘Oi, missus, birthday or not, we’ll have less of the dramatics.’ Martha rolled her eyes.

Martha had strung some of Jacks’ homemade bunting from the fireplace to the fridge; it spanned the whole room and Jacks thought it made the place feel homey. Martha stood at the sink, draining pasta while trying to chop an onion; she was as ever running hopelessly late and in a bit of a muddle, despite having had all day to prepare.

‘Oh, that’s lovely, Mum!’ She grinned as she looked at the cake. ‘Don’t know what you were on about, Dad. It definitely says “Maggie”, not “Moggie”!’

‘What do you mean?’ Jacks looked at her daughter.

‘Oh, Dad sent a text saying don’t say it looks like “Moggie” as you’d spent an age on it. But it doesn’t, so no need to worry!’

Pete hid behind Rob and Gideon’s dad, who stood nursing beers by the French doors and admiring the walled garden.

‘In fact, Mum, lunch is going to be a bit late. Would it be okay if we had cake first?’ Martha asked as she scuttled from drawer to drawer and back to the hob.

‘Yes, of course!’ Jacks couldn’t wait to get it cut, to avoid further ribbing.

‘We can sing to her later, pop a candle in what’s left, she won’t mind!’ Martha winked.

‘No cake for me.’ Jonty rubbed his stomach.

‘Why’s that, mate? Have you got period pains?’ Gideon shouted as he came in with a bucket of cold beers.

‘Very funny!’ Jonty was used to the family joke, which seemed to run and run.

Jacks was concentrating on cutting the cake into slices when Martha put down her chopping board and looked over at her. ‘Can I ask you a favour, Mum?’

‘Course, love.’ Jacks fetched the side plates from the cupboard.

‘I was wondering if you’d mind picking Maggie up from school on Tuesday? I’m in court, don’t know how long the case will run. You don’t mind, do you?’ She twisted her hair into a ponytail and laid it on her shoulder.

‘Of course I don’t mind – you know I’ll have her any time. I love having her.’ Jacks smiled. It was true, she was completely smitten. As Gina had pointed out, her whole face changed when she mentioned her grandchild.

Jacks looked at the photograph on the mantelpiece of Martha on her graduation day, standing proudly in her cap and gown and holding her scroll. She remembered the conversation they’d had when Maggie was six months old, offered casually while Jacks was bathing the baby.

‘Mum?’

‘What?’ Jacks turned to her daughter, giving her her full attention.

‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

‘What?’ Jacks’ heart sank in readiness for whatever bad news was lurking.

‘I’ve been offered a place at Bristol Uni.’

‘You… you have?’

‘Yep.’

‘To study what?’

‘I’m going to read law. I want to be a lawyer.’ Martha’s words hung in the air. ‘What do you think?’

Jacks stared at her daughter and was for once speechless.

‘What do you think, Mum?’ Martha repeated.

Jacks stared at Maggie, who looked blurred through her tears. ‘I think… I think you can do anything you put your mind to, my clever girl.’

‘Why are you crying then?’ Martha laughed.

‘Because I’m happy.’ Jacks sobbed.

‘Blimey, I’d hate to see you when you were upset.’ Martha placed her arms around her mum and hugged her tight.

Pete’s reaction to his daughter’s plan had been less emotional. ‘Have you still got that sandwich toaster?’ he quipped.

For Jacks, the double bonus was that she got to see a lot more of her tiny granddaughter while Martha was studying. It was amazing how Martha managed to juggle everything so well, but she still needed her own mum’s help, which made Jacks’ heart sing. Between her duties as a grandma and looking after the books for Pete and Gideon, she was busier than ever and loving it.