‘Don’t do this, Isla,’ he warned. ‘I’m coming now and you are going to talk to me.’
‘There’s nothing to talk about.’
‘You know, you’re right,’ he said, his temper bubbling to the surface. ‘Because it seems to me I’m the one who does the talking. I’ve told you so much these past weeks, Isla, and you’ve told me precisely nothing.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Bull!’ Alessi shouted. ‘I know little more about you than I did the night of the ball. You tell me nothing about how you feel or what you’re thinking. Oh, sorry, I do know one thing that I didn’t two weeks ago—you give good head.’
No, he could never know her, neither could he read her because instead of a shocked gasp or a swift attack he got the sound of dry laughter.
‘You’re right, you don’t know me,’ Isla said, because by her own silence he didn’t and she’d surely left it too late to start opening up now.
‘Game over, is it, Isla?’ Alessi’s voice was cool. ‘At least have the guts to say it.’
‘Game over,’ Isla said, and hung up.
As Valentine’s Days went, it was a pretty terrible one.
She woke to a text from Alessi, apologising, but telling her that she’d be getting flowers as he had been unable to cancel the flower order. And then there was a snarky addition: Believe me, Isla, I damn well tried!
Isla actually smiled wryly at his text.
She answered the door to her delivery of not one but two large bouquets.
One was from Alessi, saying that he couldn’t wait for tonight.
The other was from Rupert, who must have forgotten to cancel his regular order from the florist.
‘You have a very interesting life,’ said Darcie, smiling.
Things had been just a touch awkward between them since Isla had found out she was pregnant but Darcie was nice enough not to push her to talk. Instead, she made Isla laugh as she swiped Rupert’s bunch and said that she was going to pretend they were for her.
It was the only funny part of the day.
The only funny part of the week.
Isla’s heart ached in a way that it never had before. She knew she had to tell Alessi, that somehow she had to face things—he would soon find out after all—but she was worried about his reaction. Of course she expected him to be upset. In her work Isla was more than used to that. She knew, though, that after the dust settled, when the initial shock of a pregnancy wore off, rapid decisions were often made.
She had never wanted their fragile relationship to be put under such early pressure and, worse, it was her own fault. But on Wednesday night, as she set up for TMTB, Isla knew her problems were comparatively small as a very pale face came around the door, followed by a slender body that housed a growing bump.
‘Come in, Ruby.’ Isla smiled and she forced another one when Alessi followed her in with an empty incubator he had bought down from NICU for his talk with the girls.
He ignored her.
‘I’m sorry I called you a stuck-up cow!’ Ruby said.
‘It’s fine, Ruby. I know that I can be a stuck-up cow at times!’ She gave the young girl a little hug. ‘It’s so good to see you here. Do you want to get something to eat?’
Ruby nodded and made her way over to the table, which was groaning under the weight of cupcakes Emily had just happened to have made.
Emily was always going beyond the call of duty and it dawned on Isla that she would be the perfect midwife for Ruby. Isla decided that she would have a word about Ruby with her favourite midwife tomorrow, or whenever Emily was next on.
And then, as she looked at the faces of her TMTB group, some nervous, some excited, others ready, Isla felt the first glimpse of calmness that she’d had since Darcie had pushed the pregnancy card towards her and she had found out that she’d be a mother.
She looked at Ruby and saw the fear in her eyes but also the fire. She looked at Harriet, who was facing things bravely and passing around a picture of the ultrasound.
Yes, she was twenty-eight but Isla forgave herself then because teenage, twenty, thirty or forty—when it first happened and you found out you were going to be a mum, it was an overwhelming feeling indeed.
She didn’t feel so overwhelmed now.
Scared, yes, nervous, of course, but there was excitement there, too, and as she glanced over at Alessi, who was pointedly ignoring her, Isla was grateful, too, that, no matter what his reaction was, this man was the father of her child.
‘It’s great to see so many of you.’ Isla kicked things off. They did a small catch-up, finding out where everyone was at, but when it was Ruby’s turn she said little and Isla moved things on because clearly Ruby wasn’t willing to share her news yet.
‘Most of you met Alessi four weeks ago,’ Isla introduced their guest speaker. ‘He’s a neonatologist here at the Victoria. A couple of you already know that your babies will be going to NICU when they’re born. Some of you might not be expecting your baby to end up there and so, if it does, it will come as a huge shock. That’s why Alessi is here,’ Isla explained. ‘If your baby is on NICU then at least you’ll have a familiar face and, as well as that, he’s a wonderful doctor.’
She gave him a smile but again Alessi completely blanked her and instead he addressed the group.
‘Thank you for having me along tonight,’ he said. ‘As Isla said, I am a neonatologist. Does everyone here know what that means?’ When no one answered he asked another question. ‘Does everyone know what NICU stands for?’
A couple of the newer girls shook their heads and Alessi did smile now, but it was a tight one and, Isla knew, aimed at her.
It said, Ruby was right—you are a stuck-up cow!
‘Well, a neonatologist is a doctor who takes care of newborns. In my case, I care for newborns that need, or might need, extra support. NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which basically means it is a place for babies who need a lot of support. The best place for a baby to be is where it is now … As Alessi talked, Isla could see he already had the group eating out of his hand.
He was completely lovely with them.
‘I’m very good at my job,’ he said, ‘but even with all the technology available, I’m still not as good as you are at keeping your baby oxygenated and nourished and its temperature stable …’
He opened up the incubator and turned on a few monitors and explained how they worked and what the staff were looking for, and really he did give an excellent talk.
‘The nurses there are amazing,’ Alessi said. ‘When a baby is especially sick there is a nurse with them at all times, sometimes two. They don’t get scared by the alarms, because they are very
