Francesca, page 48
Moments later, Elle was on her way to look after Bobby. It was like a military operation. Elle turned up still in her dressing gown. I said I would drive myself, as it would take too long waiting for Julie and Ralph’s driver to pick me up and then do a complete U-turn back to the hospital. It was cold, dark, and frosty. Winter was definitely on its way. Living near the coast proved this. Summer was great, but winter was freezing.
As I drove through the empty road to the hospital, the thought of Julie in labour and only having Ralph to shout at made me laugh. Poor Ralph, she was going to make him suffer tonight.
When I arrived I was informed that she wasn’t fully dilated yet, but the nurses were monitoring her. It was going to be a long night. Poor Ralph looked in more pain than Julie did.
Julie knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and there was always the possibilities of complications. She had shared her concerns with me and Elle but not with Ralph. She didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily.
‘Fran, oh my God, you’re here. Come here. Hold my hand.’ Julie was very emotional.
As I walked passed Ralph, he leaned towards my ear. ‘Don’t hold her bloody hand, Fran. She has a grip like a boxer when those pains start.’ I could tell he was trying to make light of it, but he was worried.
Ralph looked relieved to see me and could now take a back seat. He didn’t know what to do, and Julie wasn’t helping him. She kept shouting and screaming until it was time to push. She did as she was told and took breaths. We were breathing together.
Ralph was looking on and panting with us. Julie gripped his hand tightly. ‘Does that hurt, Ralph?’
Ralph winced and nodded.
‘Good, because now you know how it bloody feels,’ she said. Even at a time like this, she was funny. And oh my, the things she was going to do to Ralph when all of this was over, including taking him down to the vets and getting him ‘done’. I had to smile.
Julie pushed and pushed, until eventually the midwife went to get a doctor. Apparently, the pushing was going on for too long and the baby was in distress. Ralph kept looking at me for reassurance. I did my best to hide my own concern, but I too was a little worried. She was pushing, but nothing was happening.
The doctor checked her over and then decided to take her down to theatre for an emergency caesarean. Both Julie and the baby were tired. Julie had fallen into a sort of dazed state. She’d had a lot of painkiller and was very tired, drifting in and out.
‘Stay with me, Francesca. Look after my baby, Frances,’ she whispered to me through breaths.
Ralph heard her and looked up at me. I could tell he felt a little embarrassed.
33
Diana
‘I’m not going anywhere, Julie Gold, and you’re going to give birth to that baby of yours and look after it yourself. Now go with the doctors and give birth. Make me an aunty, Julie.’
The porters wheeled her bed out of the room and down to the operating theatre.
She had told me and Elle one day that she was afraid of giving birth. Her pregnancy hadn’t started easy, and things had been touch-and-go for a while. The hospital had given her regular check-ups, as this was her first child and she’d had a few problems. In short, she was scared. The last person she had seen in childbirth had been her sister, and she had died.
Ralph was about to speak to me when I stopped him. I knew what he was going to say, and there was no need. ‘I know about Frances, Julie’s sister, Ralph. Understandably, she’s thinking of her right now.’
Ralph looked surprised that Julie had discussed her sister with me. ‘She’s told you about Frances?’ Ralph was almost tearful. It had been a long worrying sixteen hours, and now this. ‘You’re the only person apart from her sister she has ever loved. She would do anything for you, Francesca.’
I linked my arm through his and kissed his cheek. ‘You’re wrong, Ralph. Julie loves you very much. You’re her world. She just doesn’t want you to know it. But believe me, Ralph, you’re everything to Julie. The rest of us get the leftovers.’ I squeezed his arm and smiled.
Tears fell down his cheeks. We were alone in a side room waiting for news. We just sat there waiting for news. They had asked Ralph if he wanted to be there. But Julie had said no. And secretly, I think he was pleased.
The doctor came into the room and took his mask off. ‘Mr Gold, you have a beautiful baby daughter.’ Although the doctor was smiling, Ralph didn’t move.
‘What about Julie, is she okay?’ Ralph asked. It hadn’t quite sunk in what the doctor had just said yet.
‘Mother and baby are doing fine, Mr Gold. Come with me and meet your daughter.’ The doctor led the way.
The look on Ralph’s face on entering the room was indescribable. Suddenly, all the sorrow and the worry left the room. He pulled on my arm, and we walked into the room. Julie was holding a little bundle wrapped in a pink blanket.
‘Here you are, Daddy.’ She smiled at Ralph, reassuring him she was okay. He picked up his daughter and held her close to him. To Ralph, his daughter was pure gold!
The nurses were busying themselves in the room and checking everything was okay. They informed us that the seven and a half pound bundle was in perfect health, and she proved it by screaming her head off.
Ralph left the room while, as he put it, the nurses needed to do women’s things. He was on the telephone telling the whole world he was a father. I felt it strange that this hard businessman was quite old-fashioned in his ways—when it came to ‘women’s business’ and the like.
Ralph came back into the room. I was holding the baby while Julie was having a well-earned hot cup of coffee. She was tired and needed some rest. I felt I should go and leave them to a private moment, but Julie wasn’t having it.
Ralph was taking photo after photo of his beautiful daughter, and even at a time like this, Julie made me put some lipstick on her and informed me she had taken the precaution of wearing waterproof mascara.
‘Well, you two, any ideas on names yet?’ I asked.
It was strange to see that the look on Ralph’s face said it all. He had never thought about a name. It had never occurred to him that they would have to give their little girl a name!
‘Diana,’ said Julie. ‘Diana Frances Gold, after Ralph’s mum and my sister. That is her name,’ said Julie. ‘Diana is Ralph’s mum’s name. She died shortly after we met after a long illness.’ Julie stopped and held Ralph’s hand.
He had tears of joy and sadness rolling down his face.
‘You know why I have called her Frances. Apart from you, Fran, that represents the two dearest people to us.’ She squeezed my hand tightly, and Ralph put his arm around my shoulder.
I hadn’t thought about Ralph having a mother. He had never mentioned his mother. Come to think of it, Julie had never mentioned her parents either. I felt it was a taboo subject, and when and if she wanted to tell me, she would.
After a few more minutes, I said I was going to leave. Julie told Ralph to go as well. She was going to get some sleep. All the hype and adrenalin that had filled us all was now draining away, and little Diana was hungry.
Ralph was reluctant to leave but Julie insisted on it. He gave in and promised he would come back later. Ralph may have been tired and was going home, but he was definitely not going to sleep. He was walking on air.
He had a lot of jobs to do. Firstly there was the nanny. She was already living at the house and sorting things out. Julie had already decided not to bottle-feed. She felt it wasn’t practical. I couldn’t say anything. I had never breastfed bobby.
Julie had dragged both Elle and me shopping in every baby shop with her. Diana was to have the best designer baby suits and a nursery packed with everything you could imagine. Now, it was to be another shopping trip, only this time for Ralph.
Julie hadn’t wanted to know the sex of the baby. Because of the complications, she hadn’t wanted to get too involved—in case something went wrong. She’d felt knowing would jinx things. But now little Diana was here in the flesh—healthy and hungry and ready for the West End designer baby shops.
I had to admit, as I drove home, I felt a twinge of envy. Julie had really turned her life around, and now they both she and ralph had a fresh start and a new baby. The new home was nearing the end of all the building work. It had underfloor heating and full electric wiring.
The landscape gardeners had planted willow trees and cherry blossom trees all the way from the road up to the drive. The old cemetery, which was the size of a large plough field, had been carefully demolished and filled with flowers and rose bushes. It was beautiful, and there was still a way to go. There must have been a hundred men working on that house on a daily basis.
Albert had worked miracles with the vicar’s cottage. All the brickwork had been freshly pointed, and there were new slates on the roof. The wooden beams on the ceiling were restored or replaced. In the lounge, the large mantelpiece had a large log burner, which made it all warm and welcoming. Central heating had been put in, but Albert thought the log burner would keep to the theme of the house and give it that Victorian effect. Albert was right. The cottage only had three bedrooms, a living room, and a dining room and kitchen, but it was beautiful and newly decorated. Albert had really brought that old cottage to life.
Now Ralph and Julie had Diana, and Josh had a baby sister. It seemed they had their whole future before them.
By the time I got home, it was after six in the evening. Elle had made a cottage pie and was sitting with Bobby having dinner. They both looked up when I walked in, and bobby ran towards me with open arms. We cuddled and kissed while Elle got out another plate.
‘You look shattered, Fran. Why don’t you have something to eat and then have a lie-down?’ said Elle, in between Bobby giving me all of his news.
I had telephoned Elle about Julie’s baby, but Ralph had beaten me to it. I was about to tell her they were going to call her Diana, but Ralph had beaten me to that as well.
‘We know, Fran. Ralph has sent everyone photos from his mobile phone.’ Elle laughed.
‘I presume Tony knows all about Diana then. What did he say, Elle?’ I asked.
Elle was just about to put a forkful of food in her mouth when she nearly choked. ‘Well, I would say so, wouldn’t you? Jake rang me, and if he knows the jungle drums are beating, I would say it’s more of a case of who doesn’t know.’
We both burst out laughing. I would telephone my mam later and let her know.
I had texted Tony and apologised for not visiting him that day, but all I’d gotten back was a text saying, ‘No problem.’
After dinner I tried ringing him, but he didn’t answer. Surely he wasn’t angry with me because I hadn’t been able to get to the hospital. Maybe he would telephone me tonight. But as the evening got later, I realised he wasn’t going to.
While I lay in bed wondering if Tony would make one of his midnight calls, it occurred to me that next week would have been our first wedding anniversary. How much had changed in a year. I had money and security. Bobby was doing really well at school and was happy. It was more than I could ever have dreamed of.
The sale of my mam’s house had been finalised. There was no mortgage chain or anything to hold things up, so it had all gone smoothly. My mam and my brothers were happy and secure—unlike last year when I’d had to sell my soul to the devil as such.
My mam liked Tony. She always had. He had made a point of making sure she and the boys had some pocket money and slipped her some cash while holding his finger to his lips so that she wouldn’t tell me. She also liked his humour, apart from his looks, which she admired. She thought he was quite a charmer and that I was on a slippery slope of falling for him.
Too late, I already had, especially over the last couple of months. And although he had proposed, he had never said that he loved me. He had done that last year. I felt like I was going full circle—once again being proposed to without any mention of love.
I dropped Bobby off at school the next morning. Work already knew that I was Julie’s birthing partner and so didn’t expect me to be there. I wanted to go and see Tony at the hospital. Something wasn’t right between us, and it unsettled me. I needed to sort out the problem.
When I arrived at the hospital, the nurses seemed surprised to see me. As I walked down the corridor to Tony’s room, one of the nurses stopped me. ‘Mr Lambrianu went home this morning. Didn’t he tell you?’ She seemed surprised that I didn’t know, considering I had been there every day.
I was stunned. Tony had left the hospital and gone home? I felt foolish in front of the nurse and tried covering it up as though just remembering. ‘Oh yes, of course. Sorry, Nurse. Baby brain. Mrs Gold had her baby this morning, and I have been with her.’ I hoped that I sounded convincing.
The nurses knew Julie, and there had been times when Ralph had asked the nurses to take Julie’s blood pressure while she was there. She gave me her congratulations to send to Julie. Smiling through gritted teeth, I said that I would and made a hasty retreat.
While I was in town, I popped in to see Julie. Ralph was already there. Julie looked a lot better now that she’d had some sleep. Flowers and good wishes were coming through the door thick and fast.
‘Thank heavens you’re here, Fran. Father Ralph here, who knows everything about babies, is giving me advice, although he hasn’t offered to change a nappy yet.’ Julie was rolling her eyes at the ceiling, while Ralph completely ignored her comments. Nothing was going to spoil his happiness.
During our chat, I mentioned that Tony had left the hospital that morning. Ralph turned to me while still holding Diana in his arms. ‘I know. He rang me to tell me to take some time out—paternity leave if you like—and he would take the reins again.’ Ralph seemed pleased that Tony had come to the rescue and let him have time alone with his new family.
It seemed everyone knew but me. Tony hadn’t thought that I mattered enough to tell me. So that was it then? Just like last year, I had been dismissed again. I stayed a while longer and then made my excuses to leave. It was time to go and get my life back, although I didn’t know how. So many weeks and months had been taken up with Tony in my life. Now it was empty.
A week later, I still hadn’t heard anything. Julie was going home, and I was back at work. It was time to do some Christmas shopping. It was only a few weeks away, and the shops were bursting at the seams with all kinds of Christmas treats. Bobby was already practising for his school play. He was going to be one of the three shepherds in the school Nativity play.
Elle never mentioned Tony. It was as though he had fallen off the face of the earth. I decided not to mention him either, so as not to embarrass her. Although I was going to my mam’s again for Christmas, I decided to put up some decorations this year unlike last year.
My wedding anniversary came and went, as though it had never happened. I don’t know what I had expected, but whatever it was, it never happened. I had a glass of wine that evening when Bobby went to bed and toasted myself.
‘Happy first wedding anniversary, Mrs Lambrianu,’ I said out loud. It sounded silly, but I felt there should be something to mark the occasion.
The doctor’s surgery was organising a works night out for Christmas, an all-girls get-together. Well, at least that was something to look forward to. Christmas was only weeks away, but everyone was already in the Christmas spirit.
‘Well, Tony, don’t you think you have made her suffer enough. You’re letting the trail go cold, Tony. Just when things were looking good, you’re back to square one,’ said Jake. He couldn’t understand what Tony was waiting for.
‘No, Jake. This isn’t about making anyone suffer. This is about making plans and giving her time to think. If she wants to be with me, then the trail will not go cold. And if she wants commitment, I need time to sort things out.’
Tony was back in his office. He had missed this. It was where he belonged, being the captain of the ship. He had his own plans for Francesca. It was just a matter of time. She had told him to shelve his proposal and think about it properly. And that was what he was doing. He was giving her time as well.
‘Come on then, big mouth. You haven’t said much.’ Jake was grinning like a schoolboy. Tony was keeping whatever it was very close to his chest. ‘What are you sorting out? What is there to sort out? You’re being very secretive, mate, even with me.’ Jake was now curious. He couldn’t understand what Tony was waiting for. Time was passing. Fran would think he had forgotten all about her. He couldn’t understand it.
Tony shook his head. ‘All in good time. In the meantime, these bruises are just about gone, and it feels great having my arms back again.’ Tony rubbed them. They still felt a little weak through lack of use, but using them and doing some exercises would make them as strong as ever.
The clubs were getting ready for Christmas. That meant hundreds of people wanting a good time, whether that be feeling lucky at the roulette wheels or dancing the night away.
Sharon was organising the Christmas party for the strippers at the club and ordering more cheap champagne for the customers to drink. It was a hectic time of year, but a very profitable one.
The wind was blowing on an icy afternoon by the coast. Hardly anyone was around—just two men sitting on a bench watching the waves of the sea going back and forth.
‘How’s it going, Joe? Do you have anything good to share?’ He looked at his companion and shrugged.
‘Nothing, absolutely nothing. Christmas is coming, and I’m absolutely skint. Being a freelance photographer for the newspapers and magazines means you either eat well or not at all.’ Joe sipped his coffee; it was already going cold in the icy wind.
‘At least all you have to is find a celebrity and take a photo. I’m a freelance journalist, and I have to find a story where there is none. I thought I would just get away from it all today and come out here for inspiration.’ He raised his cup to his friend. ‘Cheers, mate.’
Looking out at the beach and the wet sand, they saw a woman wrapped up against the wind walking a dog.
