The Price of Love

by Rosie Harris

  ‘True, and don’t forget we are going to have another mouth to feed in the autumn,’ Sam joked.

  ‘Why is that, Uncle Sam?’ Anna piped up.

  ‘Well, Aunty Brenda is going to have a little baby very soon,’ he explained.

  Anna stared at them both wide-eyed. ‘Will it be a birthday present for me?’ she asked.

  ‘No, darling, Brenda’s baby won’t be born until November,’ Lucy explained.

  ‘Will I be able to help you to look after it?’

  ‘I shall be counting on you helping me to take care of it,’ Brenda told her gravely.

  Anna jumped down off her chair and went over to Lucy who picked her up on to her lap and cuddled her.

  ‘When Daddy tucked me up last night he said that you really are my Mummy now that you and Daddy are married.’ She smiled.

  ‘That’s quite right,’ Lucy assured her.

  ‘Do you think we could have a new baby as well, Daddy?’ she asked hopefully, looking across at her father.

  Robert tried to keep his face sombre but his eyes were twinkling as he looked across at Lucy before answering. ‘Yes, I think that is more than possible,’ he told Anna.