After Forever Ends (49 page)

It was so funny to watch those two at play. They were so nearly equal in size and strength you never knew which way the tide would sway. Very rarely did one ever tell the other that he loved him, but every slap, every kick, every sucker punch to the ribs said it louder than words.

Ollie was excellent at taking time for everyone. When he wasn’t at work healing the sick, he was spending time with Alexander, who needed his brother’s support more than he realised, or he was at his parents’ home helping them with the upkeep that was becoming too much for them in their age. But he always made sure that he would take Carolena and me on special walks, just us, up the path and over to the pond, “See that, Caro Muffin?” He showed her everything, “That is a ladybug. Not at all good to eat. And you see this? This is a mushroom, which sometimes is good to eat, but you must be careful. And that is Duncan’s cack. Never, ever eat that!” He gasped, “Oh, look! Moss! Feel it, Muffin, it’s soft! And this is a nice flat stone, good for skipping. When you’re older, we’ll skip a lot of these, right? Oh, no, Silly, no eating leaves! Mind, what I think the best thing in the world to eat is that little fist of yours, don’t you?” He would take that tiny wet little fist out of her mouth and pretend to munch on it and little Carolena would squeal with delight. Then he’d set her down and she’d do her best to run, toddling in every direction until she landed on her knees and got up to try it again.

They were a pair, those two. They loved each other with such tenderness it brought tears to my eyes at times. “I wudge yeeew, Datty,” She’d say as she squeezed his leg in her tiny little arms, “I wudge yeeew! Pit me ut!” She was feisty like me and tireless like him, a combination that could only be met with absolute love and unending patience, of which Oliver had both. If he maybe ran a little short once in a blue moon, I was able to pick up the slack.

It was at breakfast when Carolena was two and a half that Oliver told me I was pregnant.

“What?” I demanded, literally throwing a piece of toast at him. It hit him square in the chest. I sent one flying at Alex and he caught it.

“Check the calendar, Love. You were due five days ago.”

“He’s right,” Alex mumbled through a mouthful of eggs.

I accidentally dropped the next piece of toast on Nigel’s head. “Oh, so the two of you think you know my schedule better than I do?”

“Of course, Love, don’t you notice when we tend to hide?”

“Oh, shut up, Oliver! Alexander, stop your smiling or I’ll slap you!” I checked the calendar, “Well, you’re right.” I said without allowing myself to get too excited, “Bring me home a stick on your way tonight.”

“I have to go to work, Darling,” Alexander stood up, kissed all three of the children and faced me, “And I not might be back until late depending on how my meetings go. I’ll have to leave that little chore up to Oliver.”

“Get out of my house,” I warned. He pecked me on the forehead as he passed by. “And make sure you bring nappies for your daughter tonight.”

He waved over his shoulder as the door shut behind him.

“I’ve got to run, too,” Oliver leaned over Caro and she immediately puckered her pudgy lips. “Have a good day, Muffins,” He kissed Nigel, who was too involved in his cereal to respond, and Nattie, whose face was covered in gooey toast, on their heads, “But I will bring you home a stick, Silvia,” His voice lowered as he approached me, “I’m very excited.”

“I love you, Oliver.” I stood on my toes to hold him close. “I wish you could stay home.”

“I love you, too,” He caressed my face with the back of his fingers, “I wish I could stay too, but sick children, yeah?”

“Damn brats going and getting sick! Giving you a job!”

“I know. Pesky germ factories at work.” He kissed me. Oliver never left without kissing me, even on the rare occasions that we annoyed each other, “Have a brilliant day, Love.”

“You, too, Sweetheart.”

He winked and went out the door in a flash.

When he came through the door again that night, he handed me a pregnancy test, “Here, Love, go pee on this.”

We trampled into the bathroom together. He was right on my heels. He closed the door behind us and leaned against it, staring at me as I tore open the plastic. “I can pee without your watching me,” I told him as I hauled up my skirt and lowered my knickers.

“I’ve seen you pee a thousand times,” He replied, still staring. “You never got stage fright before. Why are you hovering?”

“Shush. You’re going to make me pee all over myself.”

“Like that’s anything new.”

I laughed, “Right then, it’s done!” I set the test on the counter. We watched the dials darken. A plus sign was almost immediate.

I screamed with shock and joy. Oliver and I threw our arms around each other, jumping about in circles. “A baby! A baby!” We laughed and kissed, “A baby!”

“Oh, Sil! We’re gonna have another! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

We burst back into the front room to tell the children, who were too little to have cared, and found Alexander lying on the floor being pummelled with tiny little fists.

“Let me guess,” He grinned. An elbow glanced his jaw, “It’s a baby?”

It was another effortless pregnancy, with the exception that my nose bled constantly and I woke up with horrid cramps in my legs that brought me near tears. Most of the time, though, I didn’t even remember I was pregnant since I was so busy chasing the three wee Dickinson’s about the wood. They kept me occupied, to say the least. I was more thankful than ever for Duncan, who stood guard with all of them and would head them off if they tried to leave the lawn, barking and yelping so that I would see and tell them to come back where it was safe. He’d do the same if a fight broke out. If ever I didn’t react quickly enough, he’d grab one by the seat of their trousers and pull until they gave up, cried, or, in Natalie’s case, fell on top of him. God bless our Duncan. He was assistant nanny and head referee at all times.

My water gave way while I was, of all places, standing in the middle of the waiting room of Oliver’s office. There were children crawling the walls in there, including my own, and suddenly my socks were soaked.

“Oh, shite!” I said very loudly. About half the mothers looked at me, aghast. “Sorry,” I told them, “Plug your ears and grab a mop!”

“Oh, my goodness!” One woman cried, pointing at the dark spot where I was standing, “You’re in labour!”

“Aye, I think so,” I said casually as I could, “Nigel! Get off that table right now! You’ll tumble off and break your head!”

When Oliver was told what had happened, he was ready to send them all packing and take me to hospital, but I told him no. “I’m not even having contractions yet, Sweetheart. Go and get as many appointments as you can in and I’ll ring. Can I leave the children here, though?” I asked, “I know your staff has enough to do, but your mum will come and I’m very wet. I don’t think in an hour I’ll be up to looking after them.”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course! Are you going straight over then?” Oliver was standing in the waiting room with me, his hands on my belly.

“To hospital? I think I should, don’t you?” I asked. He nodded, “Can you go home and get me a bag before you head over?” I asked, realising all the things I hadn’t done yet, “And I haven’t even packed a bag for the baby yet…oh, damn,” I felt a cramp sweep through me.

“I’ll reschedule our appointment, Doctor,” Said a blonde woman with two blonde daughters. She had stood up when I’d grabbed my middle, “What you’ve got going on is much more important than having a wart removed!”

“We’ll reschedule, too,” Said another and about three more followed.

“Doctor,” A woman holding her baby sounded near panic, “My Macsen is so sick!”

“Oh, he’ll see your Macsen,” I told her, “Don’t fret, Ma’am. I’m not in any danger of having the baby right here right now,” I turned back to Oliver, “Take care of little Macsen for her, Sweetheart. And of our three little muffins,” I never differentiated Nigel and Natalie as not being my own children from Carolena, “Get the bags and come soon as you can.”

“I really don’t want you to drive yourself, Sil.” He said seriously.

“I can make it, it’s not far.”

“No, let me ring Mum. She can bring you.”

“No way!” I held up my hand, “You know I can’t handle her when she dotes.”

“Alex then.” He was looking at my belly.

“He’s at work.”

“I’ll take her,” The blonde woman interrupted with a smile, “I’d be happy to.”

“Oh, you don’t need to!” I protested.

Oliver clapped his hands, “The wart comes off for free if you do that, Missus Howland!”

She chuckled at his enthusiasm as she gathered up her girls.

Oliver nodded. That amazing, insane smile that I loved so much began taking up most his face. His eyes were ablaze, “I’ll be there just as soon as I can, Love. Don’t you dare go having our baby without me!” He kissed me with more passion than was acceptable for standing the middle of his waiting room in front of clients, “Ring me when you settle in.”

“First thing!” I left the office to the best wishes of a very excited crowd.

Missus Howland saw me to the hospital. “Your husband is the nicest man,” She told me on the way. “All the children love him. My son wants to invite him to his birthday party!”

“He has a way with little ones,” I agreed, breathing through a contraction as I clung to the seat. “I’m sure he’d come if you asked him.”

“Well, you’re very lucky to have him, Missus Dickinson,” She pulled up to the hospital. “Do you need me to walk you in?”

“No, no. No thank you,” I opened the door, “They’ll just pop me into a wheelchair and see me on my way. But thank you for everything!”

“Oh, my pleasure! Good luck!”

I nodded, “Thanks again! Cheers!” I closed the door, and waddled up into the hospital. “Hello!” I said brightly to the woman behind the desk, “I'm here to have a baby!”

I had just settled into the first room when Alexander came bursting in, huffing for breath, “Bloody…” He leaned against the wall with one arm and held his side with the other, “…car died just at the end…of…the road… I think I might…be out of petrol…”

“Do you need a bed yourself, Alexander?”

He gasped out a laugh, “You seem OK. I could have… walked instead…” He dropped two bags on the floor, “I…got some stuff from the cabin…Oliver phoned me…I was at lunch…”

“Do you need to go back to work?”

He shook his head and waved his hand at me. “I told them…to reschedule my calls…I left the kids off at mum’s…” Alexander fell into a chair, “Bloody hell! I’m getting old!”

We sat for about an hour until Oliver arrived, still wearing his office jacket. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. We watched a few television shows, East Enders being one and I don’t know why because we never watched that show. My mood was steadily heading southward and I found myself rolling from side to side to ease the pressure as the cramps grew worse. Finally, I chucked a Kleenex box at the television, “Shut that woman up!” I demanded, “And, Oliver, if you say one more damned thing to make me laugh I swear I'll kill you!”

“We’re getting close,” He said knowingly. He nodded at his brother to support his statement, “Mind, last time if I told her I was excited one more time she was going to bite my nose off.”

“Shut up!” I snapped.

“Do you want me to check your cervix, Love?” He asked.

Alexander laughed. I did my best to slap him, but another contraction crushed me and caused me to fall short.

Oliver called a nurse, who did just that and checked my cervix, “Oh, you’ve made great progress!” She proclaimed, “Congratulations! You’re ready to go down to delivery!”

“Can I get real drugs this time?”

“Of course, Dear,” She unlocked the bed and whirled me around, “We have plenty!”

I really liked that woman.

The epidural was not pleasant going in. “You said it’s going to cramp a little?” I asked the nurse who was helping to steady me as I sat on the edge of the gurney. My arms were on her shoulders, my hands balled into tiny fists. I honestly wanted to strangle anyone I could reach, so I kept them tightly closed. This did not keep me from having the urge to pound them against her, even as innocent and kind as she was being, “This is bloody hell!”

“Just relax, Ma’am. It’s in. It takes about ten minutes to get to its full effect. You’ll feel much better then.” She patted my arm, “There, there, Love. Lie back. That's it…”

I lay on that bed and watched the clock for ten minutes, counting the seconds. But she was right. After eight minutes passed, I was relaxed and nearly pain free. “This is like heaven,” I told Oliver, “Can you do this for me at home?”

He laughed, “I’m afraid not. I’m sure I’d paralyse you if I gave you an epidural.”

“Well, how about just the Demerol then? Little injections here and there?”

He laughed again and shook his head.

A little while later the doctor came in. He lifted up the blanket and violated me in an effort to check my progress, then looked at me and smiled, “You’re there! It’s time to start pushing, Silvia. Are you ready?”

“Oh, yes,” I told him. I wiggled to the foot of the bed.

I could feel every contraction, but it did not hurt. I pushed with all my might for about fifteen minutes and only felt a little tired. “Push! Push!” Said the doctor.

“Come on, Sil!” Oliver was hopping up and down, “I can see the head! I can see it!”

“Really?” I honestly tried to sit up and look. Nobody seemed to notice.

“That’s it, Silvia, one more good push!” The doctor coached.

“Oh, yes, Love! I can see the head!” Oliver repeated, “Push!”

I was watching my husband as I did what he said. He looked exactly like that boy at Bennington, his hair a little too long and tousled, his eyes blazing with excitement, in a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the top, black trousers and a tie so loose it was almost sideways around his neck. He looked just like he’d looked the day I’d met him, just like he did when he kissed me by the lake. A thousand memories washed over me all at once, all of them were of him.

“I love you, Oliver.” I told him truly.

“I love you, too, Sil!” He kissed my temple and put his hand over mine, “Push, Love!”