by Lucy Daniels
‘It’s not fat when you’re having a baby.’ Jimmy seemed to be taking the whole conversation in his stride. Mandy wished she could share his tranquillity. ‘Besides,’ he added, ‘you should have seen how big Mummy was when she was having you!’
‘How big?’ Abi’s eyes were wide. ‘As big as Zoe?’
Jimmy laughed. ‘Even bigger than that,’ he told her.
‘Tell me the story of the night we were born,’ Abi begged him.
For the first time, Jimmy looked uncomfortable. Mandy tried to smile politely at him. She didn’t want him to know that she would rather be pulling a rotten canine tooth from a Yorkie than hearing about the birth of Jimmy’s children with his first wife.
He glanced at Mandy before turning his eyes to his daughter. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘The first I knew of it was when I got a call from the hospital, telling me to come in. Mummy had already been in hospital for two days, but she managed to tell me that you two were on the way. It was a lovely summer’s night,’ Jimmy went on, glancing out of the window, then back to the twins, ‘a bit like this one. I drove to the hospital as quickly as I could and even then I was only just in time. I ran into the room and the first thing I saw was your head starting to appear! You were born a couple of minutes later.’ He smiled at the memory, his eyes crinkling with tenderness, and Mandy felt herself relax a little.
‘The nurse handed you over to Mummy for a few minutes. Then your mum passed you to me, because Max was on the way. You and I had the most lovely cuddle while Max was being born.’ He turned to his son. ‘You, little monkey, were coming upside down,’ he told Max, ‘but Mummy was very brave, and Abi and I held her hand until you finally appeared.’
Mummy was very brave … Mandy felt a shiver pass through her at Jimmy’s words, knowing how much hurt and worry he must be hiding from the twins with that simple sentence. She couldn’t exactly relate, but she’d presided over plenty of difficult animal births, and she could definitely empathise. She reached for his hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.
‘And then Mummy told me how happy she was to have the two most beautiful babies in the world and I told her I was the happiest man in the world to have you both.’
Mandy’s smile froze a little as another wave of awkwardness hit her.
‘Did you really say that?’ Abi must have heard the story many times before, Mandy could tell, but she seemed to want to hear the last part again.
‘Yes. Mummy and I really were the happiest people in the world, because we had the best babies in the world,’ Jimmy assured her.
Max’s face had taken on an anxious look. ‘Will Mummy and Dan say that about the new baby?’ he asked. Abi had just taken a new slice of pizza but stopped with the wedge halfway to her mouth.
‘They’ll say they have another baby to add to the best babies in the world crew!’ Jimmy replied. ‘Mummy has room in her heart to love every one of her babies more than enough.’
Abi took a mouthful of her pizza, chewed and swallowed, then said, ‘I hope Mummy and Dan have a girl. I’d love to have a sister.’
‘What about you Max?’ Mandy asked. ‘Would you like another sister?’
Max thought for a moment. ‘I think I’d quite like a brother, though either would be okay.’
‘Do you want to have a baby?’ Abi directed the question straight at Mandy.
For a moment, Mandy wished she had an old-fashioned fan she could wave in front of her face to cool the heat that had rushed up to her cheeks. ‘Um … no,’ she replied, feeling almost faint with embarrassment. Would she have asked someone that when she was nine? Surely she had only been interested in puppies and kittens back then?
‘Good! Daddy has us. He doesn’t need any more babies.’
Mandy’s mouth opened a little, and she forced it shut again.
Wow. At least I know where I stand.
Would it really be so awful for them if their dad were to have a new baby as well as their mum? What did it matter? She’d never thought about having children before, even with Simon, her ex.
‘You should eat your pizza, Abi, before it gets cold.’ Jimmy’s voice was firm. He had let go of Mandy’s hand, but he sent her an apologetic look.
This time Mandy couldn’t bring herself to smile back. What was he thinking? Surely there would be a better time to get to know the twins? A time when their mum hadn’t just announced she was going to have a baby in a few months?
But then, over Jimmy’s shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Zoe, in her basket beside the sofa, snoring and twitching her ears. She suddenly felt a burst of jealousy, and stifled the urge to laugh. Maybe she could go and lie down in a darkened room, she thought. Just her, Zoe and Simba. They could come out when the twins had gone to bed.
The pizza was finished and they had all shared chocolate cake without any further difficult moments. ‘Why don’t we play Game of Life?’ Jimmy suggested once the table was cleared. Max and Abi ran to the cupboard under the stairs to pull the colourful box out, and Mandy felt pleased too. She could remember playing Game of Life when she was much younger.
It didn’t seem to have changed too much, Mandy thought, though she felt sure the version she’d played hadn’t rewarded anyone for recycling rubbish or helping the homeless. She chose to pay the money and go to college. Before long, they were all spinning the coloured wheel and wending their way along the pathway, though Mandy was rather disappointed that the mountain pass had disappeared.
Max landed on a House Space and picked up the top two cards. He counted out his money, biting his lip as he concentrated. ‘I’m going to buy the island holiday home,’ he announced, as if this was the most wonderful news ever.
But Abi pouted. ‘It’s not fair,’ she said to Jimmy. ‘Max always ends up getting the island holiday home. It’s not fair that he always gets to start. It’s cheating.’
‘He doesn’t always get to start,’ Jimmy objected. ‘You have to take it in turns.’
‘He started last time and this time,’ Abi argued. ‘It’s not fair.’ Mandy glanced from Jimmy to Abi, wondering what he would do. She couldn’t help but feel glad she didn’t have to get involved.
‘I didn’t start last time anyway,’ Max put in. ‘You did.’
‘No, I did not.’ Abi’s bottom lip was sticking out so far it was the size of one of the pizzas they’d eaten earlier. ‘It says in the rules that the youngest should start. Max is the youngest. He always starts.’
Mandy found herself studying her own house card. She had bought the windmill. It looked rather nice, she thought. Peaceful. Isolated.
‘We’re not going to get into a discussion about who started last time.’ Jimmy’s voice was steady.
‘Well, I don’t want to play any more.’ Abi’s voice wobbled.
‘What about you join in with me as a team?’ Jimmy suggested. ‘That way Mandy and Max get to finish. Would that do?’
Abi agreed, though with such a show of reluctance that Mandy wondered whether it wouldn’t have been better just to stop. Abi shifted around to sit beside Jimmy as if her arms and legs were made of lead and picked at the surface of the table. Whenever Max seemed to be doing well she sighed heavily and slumped lower in her chair.
She brightened up considerably when Jimmy won the game, and even bounced a little in her chair as she turned to him while he was packing up the pieces. ‘Can we stay up for Talent on TV?’ she asked. ‘I’m sure Zoe would like to watch it,’ she added, looking carefully at Jimmy’s face. Mandy watched him too. He had told her before that he didn’t like TV talent shows.
‘I suppose so,’ Jimmy replied. His look was indulgent and for a moment, Mandy felt disappointed. She had half hoped that he would send the twins to bed.
Is that selfish of me?
She thought back to Helen’s words. Jimmy came as a complete package. If she accepted him, she accepted he was a dad. And mostly he seemed to be a great dad. If he was willing for the twins to stay up late, then she would be fine with it too, though s
he had been hoping for a little time alone with him.
They finished the night with Talent on TV, which turned out to feature an opera singer from Wigan, a woman from Brixton who juggled knives, and a man from Llandudno who’d trained his ferrets to dance to 80s pop music.
Mandy curled up in the armchair where she knew Jimmy sat when he was alone. Zoe had sneaked up onto her knee at the beginning, and Mandy had done nothing to stop her, but her leg was now numb from the weight of the heavily pregnant dog. It wasn’t surprising that Zoe was a little bit more clingy than usual, and besides, it was worth it for the fluffy cuddles.
Jimmy meanwhile was on the sofa, flanked by the twins. Now and then, he glanced over at Mandy and Zoe. He seemed quite satisfied to have them there, looking so comfortable.
Mandy stood up when the show was finished. ‘I’d better get off,’ she said.
The twins barely looked up, though both muttered ‘Goodbye.’
Jimmy followed her to the door. ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said, in a low, happy murmur. ‘It went really well, don’t you think?’
Mandy’s eyebrow twitched. Did he really believe that, she wondered, or was he just being kind?
He must have seen the doubt in her face. ‘It’ll get easier, you’ll see. They’ll learn to love you. Why wouldn’t they?’
Because I’m just not good with children, she thought, and the twins are so obviously unsettled about their new brother or sister and they probably want their dad all to themselves. The thoughts ran through her head, one by one, but she squared her shoulders and smiled. When Jimmy leaned in for a kiss, it felt just as wonderful as ever, especially since she knew there weren’t two extra pairs of green eyes watching.
Jimmy looked at her for a long moment. ‘I’m free tomorrow night if you’d like to come round again,’ he said. ‘Abi and Max are going back to Belle’s tomorrow. So just you and me.’
Mandy felt her heart lift.
‘I’d love to,’ she said.
As soon as the door closed behind her, she couldn’t help but let out a large sigh of relief. The difficult part of the evening was over, and there was an evening alone with Jimmy on the horizon. Things were really looking up.
She really had been very lucky, she thought an hour later as she headed out from the cottage at Animal Ark to the field out the back where Hope Meadows stood. Although she had been adopted as a baby, her own childhood could not have been more stable. It must be hard for the twins, what with her and Dan and now the new baby.
She let out Hattie and Tablet, a pair of her rescue dogs. The late evening light sent long shadows through the trees as the two crossbreed dogs sniffed their way around the orchard. The blossom had fallen and scattered petals still dotted the ground. The brand-new buds that the blossom had left behind were a wonderful shade of lime green. The phone in her pocket buzzed and she pulled it out. It was James. She grinned as she pressed the button to answer the call.
‘Hello,’ the familiar voice came down the phone. ‘How are things going?’
‘Very well, thank you,’ Mandy’s eyes followed the taller of the dogs, whose name was Hattie, ‘though I’m just recovering from my first big evening as a wicked stepmother.’
‘Oh really?’ James’s voice was amused. He knew how she felt about children in general, and Jimmy’s children, in particular. ‘Did they burn you alive?’ he said.
‘If they could have fitted me in the oven, I think they might have done,’ she replied, laughing. Hattie was criss-crossing the enclosure, while Tablet had just cocked his leg on a stump. ‘We actually had pizza,’ she added.
‘You disappoint me,’ James teased her. ‘Really, though, it should be easy for you. You’d have no trouble at all if it was a crazy cow or a belligerent bull.’
‘That’s all very well,’ Mandy retorted, ‘but I can sedate those or put them in a cattle crush. I can’t really do either of those things with Jimmy’s twins.’
James laughed.
But she wasn’t the only one who’d been out, she remembered. She had been rather surprised the last time she had spoken to James to hear he was meeting up with someone he’d met in his café. ‘How did your date with Ian go?’ she asked.
A sigh came down the line. ‘It … didn’t work out.’
Mandy waited for a moment to see if James would go into more detail, but there was only silence. ‘Oh well.’ She tried to keep her voice bright. ‘There’s no rush.’
‘I know that.’ The sharpness of James’s words came as a slight shock and for a moment, she didn’t know what to say, then his voice came down the line again. ‘I’m sorry,’ he told her. ‘It’s just – well, the wedding anniversary is coming round.’
Mandy felt a wave of sadness run through her. It had been such a wonderful day last year, when Paul and James had been married on Welford village green. No wonder her friend was finding it difficult.
‘You should come down at the weekend,’ she said, blinking away a thin film of tears. ‘That’s an order,’ she added, when he didn’t respond immediately. ‘We’ll have a day of fun. Distraction is the name of the game!’
James laughed. ‘Yes, sir!’ he said. ‘Thank you, sir!’ She could imagine him standing to attention and saluting.
They rang off a few minutes later. The sun had finally slipped over the horizon. Putting Hattie and Tablet back into their kennels, Mandy called to Sky, and they walked over to the cottage together underneath the stars.
Chapter Five
The phone in Rachel’s pocket rang, just as Mandy was tying off the cervix during a bitch spay operation. Rachel Farmer had worked part time in Animal Ark for a number of years. Helen was having a rare day off, and Rachel was covering. She checked Mandy’s patient before she pressed the button to take the call.
‘Hello?’ she said. ‘Animal Ark and Hope Meadows.’ Adam was out on call and Emily was off. Mandy’s mobile had been redirected to the Animal Ark line while she was scrubbed up.
The ligature round the cervix seemed to be holding up well. Moving forward in the dog’s abdomen, Mandy checked the ovaries. There was no sign of blood anywhere. It was time to stitch up. She tore open another packet of surgical suture.
‘Okay, that’s fine. I’ll get her to call back as soon as she’s finished operating.’ Rachel was smiling as she ended the call. She looked up at Mandy. ‘It was a man who’s interested in Holly and Robin,’ she said. ‘Peter Warry. He sounded nice.’
Mandy hoped the man was as nice as Rachel thought. Though she was always glad when anyone took interest in her rescue animals, she was concerned that people would be interested in the donkeys as domestic pets or as sort-of-riding-ponies. Though they could be cared for as pets, whoever took them on would need masses of space and ideally experience breaking donkeys in. They’d also need a good deal of patience if they wanted children to ride the donkeys. It would be at least three years before Holly and Robin were old enough to take anyone at all.
She returned her full attention to the spay and inserted the final suture in the skin layer. The row of stitches looked neat and tidy. ‘You can turn her off now,’ she told Rachel, who had been monitoring the anaesthetic, but the receptionist had pre-empted her.
‘Isoflo’s off.’ Rachel pulled the drapes away from the dog’s head and smiled down at her sleepy face. Mandy was pleased too. The anaesthesia had gone as smoothly as the operation itself.
Rachel began to clean up the skin as Mandy pulled off her surgical gloves and went to the sink to rinse off the powder that clung to her fingers. Once the site was clear, Rachel rolled the spay patient onto her side. She was a slim black Staffie with a white chest. Her name was Anita. Mandy moved to the dog’s broad head to check the position of her eyes to assess her level of anaesthesia. She was coming round nicely. ‘How are you doing, Anita?’ Mandy spoke to the dog quietly and ran her fingers repeatedly over the short fur below the Staffie’s ear. That way, the dog would know she was there and wouldn’t be shocked when she woke. Anita swallowed and with a swift m
otion, Mandy pulled out the breathing tube from her trachea.
‘Can you give me a hand lifting her through?’ she asked Rachel. Between them, they settled the Staffie into a kennel, covering her with a soft blanket, and closed the cage door quietly. Anita looked peaceful.
Leaving Rachel at the desk, Mandy walked into one of the consulting rooms and dialled Peter Warry’s number.
As she talked to Mr Warry, Mandy’s heart swelled with hope and relief. It turned out that he owned a smallholding just south of Northallerton where he already kept four alpacas, a llama and several cows, all of them rare breeds. And – Mandy crossed her fingers at Rachel as she gave her an enquiring look across the office – he seemed to be very knowledgeable about donkeys.
‘I used to help look after a pair of retired donkeys when I was growing up,’ he said. ‘Poor things had spent most of their lives giving rides on the beach at Scarborough. We gave them a great retirement.’
Mandy couldn’t help but squeeze her fist in a tiny gesture of victory. It didn’t sound as if Mr Warry would be offering rides on Holly and Robin.
‘So what are your plans?’ she asked. ‘Do you have plenty of space for them?’ She sat down in the chair beside the computer and looked out of the window.
‘I have the perfect field,’ he told her. ‘Not too much grass and there’s a good solid shelter for them in case it’s wet. I love having the cows and the alpacas,’ he said, ‘but I want to open the place up as a children’s farm. I can’t imagine anything more welcoming than a lovely pair of donkeys.’
Mandy could see Holly through the glass. The little jenny was sniffing the ground under an apple tree filled with blossom. Robin trotted up to her, nudging her with his nose.
‘Don’t worry if they aren’t used to children yet,’ Mr Warry went on. ‘That’s something we’d work on before any paying customers were allowed anywhere near.’
Better and better, thought Mandy. She remembered Jack chattering away to the two young donkeys. ‘They’re already used to children,’ she told Mr Warry, but I’m very glad to hear you’d make sure they were well settled before going ahead.’
