stepped into the room as the women were still happily chatting. She was there to take Georgina’s blood pressure.
‘I think I will head off and leave you in Ella’s care,’ Juliet said as she stood up to go. She wanted to go back to her office and confirm that everything was on track. ‘I will see you and Leo in the morning.’
With that Juliet walked back down to her office and as usual she looked into Charlie’s office as she passed by. It was a habit that had formed quickly but she was grateful he wasn’t always there or it might have seemed awkward. This time he was there, sitting on the sofa with his feet up reading. It looked like a report of sorts but she didn’t stop.
Not until she heard him call her name and she turned back to see him standing in the doorway.
‘How are Georgina and Leo holding up?’
‘Georgina’s doing very well and Leo’s gone home. She wanted him to rest for tomorrow,’ Juliet told him, still feeling warmed by the affection the parents-to-be shared. ‘They would have to be the sweetest couple, so in love and looking out for each other. Truly beautiful.’
Charlie didn’t comment and Juliet suddenly felt terrible for bringing up their marital happiness. She felt so insensitive and decided to change the subject rather than add to her verbal blunder.
‘What about you?’ she asked to break the uncomfortable silence. ‘Did the baby have an uneventful entry into the world? It must’ve been a quick labour for you to be back here already.’
‘It was her fourth,’ Charlie said, clearly keen to move away from discussing Georgina and Leo’s love story. ‘She was a pro. Her baby boy was delivered in forty-five minutes and she has three more at home to match. There will be no shortage of men to mow the lawns in that household.’
Juliet assumed the conversation would end there and made a mental promise to herself to be more sensitive but Charlie continued the conversation. ‘Is Georgina fine with the change to the anaesthesia, then?’
She paused mid step and turned back to him, elated that there was no damage from her inappropriate comment. ‘Yes, she understood why you thought it would be best. And I’m sure, because the suggestion has come from you, she feels very comfortable. I think she’s happy we’re working closely together—it makes her feel better about everything.’
Charlie had heard the overall details the day before but wanted some clarification around a few of the finer details. He invited her back into his office and they talked through everything from the preoperative medication to the post-operative care. He was impressed that Juliet was thorough, focused and left little to chance. It was how he liked to operate. He wasn’t one to ever take unnecessary risks.
They were winding up the conversation and Juliet mentioned heading down to collect Bea. ‘You apparently said you could look at staying here longer if needed to one of the midwives.’
‘That’s right. I’ll stay until the babies are born.’
‘And after that?’
‘I’m not sure. If there’s a position here, and the need for my skills, I may look at my options. But my family and friends all live in Perth, quite close by, which is a great support for both of us and of course my mother and father still keep watchful eyes on both of us. I’m fortunate but some may find it odd that they still fuss over me at my age.’
‘Helicopter parents?’
‘You could say that, but with all good intentions.’
Charlie nodded. ‘Well, they let you out of their sight to make this trip at least.’
Juliet laughed. ‘They actually pushed me onto the plane. I wasn’t convinced that I should come here but they insisted.’
‘Then they can’t be too overprotective. You and Bea have travelled a long way and you’re definitely not under their watchful eyes now.’
Juliet smiled. ‘What about you?’ she enquired. ‘Are your parents here in the Cotswolds?’
Charlie’s smile seemed to drop instantly. The cheery disposition Juliet had been enjoying seemed to slip away and she wished she hadn’t asked. She prayed they too hadn’t died. That would be a heavy burden for someone to bear. She watched as he stood up slowly and walked to the window, looking out into the distance. He didn’t appear to be focusing on anything in particular.
‘It’s none of my business, really you don’t have to answer.’
Charlie stared ahead, still saying nothing for a few moments. ‘No. My parents both passed while I was in medical school. They left me a sizable inheritance to ensure I could complete my studies but they left me alone. No brothers or sisters.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It was a long time ago and it only hits home occasionally. Usually around holidays like Christmas when it’s all about family time.’ Charlie rested back into his chair. ‘On the subject of family, I overheard you tell the nurse in A&E that Bea only has one parent. And tell me if I’m overstepping the line but are you widowed like me...or divorced?’
Juliet reached into her bag for her bottle of water and took a large sip. She had known the subject could arise but she wished it had not been that day. She had no intention of blurting out to him details around her irresponsible one-night stand. She was a doctor and she slept with a man she didn’t know and fell pregnant. Juliet accepted that it wasn’t the eighteen-hundreds, as her father had often said, but the circumstance of Bea’s conception, in her eyes, still made her look fairly naive and irresponsible.
Charlie was so conservative in almost every way and to announce that, By the way I was reckless, slept with a man I barely knew, trusted him when he said he’d handled the contraception and as a result became a single mother, but the rest of the time I’m incredibly responsible...except of course for the day we met and Bea was alone in the playground and fell...and last week when I decided on a minute’s notice to drag a four-year-old halfway around the world.
Any way she looked at the situation, she felt that Charlie might judge her.
But then why did she care? His opinion shouldn’t matter. But it did. She had been silly enough to trust a man who didn’t deserve that trust the night Bea was conceived and naive enough to think there would be more than one night. Perhaps even forever.
She doubted that Charlie ever threw caution to the wind and for that reason she felt anxious about confessing her stupidity. But just as Charlie had told her about his wife and his parents she felt she should give him the same level of honesty.
‘Bea’s never met her father but he is alive and living somewhere in Western Australia.’ There it was said. Out in the open. And she knew the floodgates were also open to the barrage of questions that would follow. And she would answer all of them truthfully. Or not answer them at all.
‘May I ask why?’
‘It’s for the best,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s just that he’s not a good person. To be frank, he’s the worst type of bad.’
‘Really?’
‘Truly.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
