One Year Later
The screams could be heard all the way down the corridor and Maria winced, remembering the day she had pushed her baby daughter into the world. Right there at the front of the fire station, with the burliest midwife she could ever have imagined in attendance, and James by her side. Just like he was now, sitting next to her in the waiting room of Harrogate Hospital.
Hope Elizabeth Chance was sitting on his knee, giggling at the faces he was pulling at her. Her blonde curls were fanned around her face, and Maria was once again struck by how much she looked like she did in her own baby photos, and how she had her own mother’s eyes. She couldn’t wait to tell her all about her mother when she grew up, and tell her how much her Grandma Mallory would have loved her, just like her Grandmother Lynn adored her now. She fingered the rings on her hand, recalling their perfect wedding just the month before. They had been married on the steps of the fire house, and Sam had been the one to walk her down the proverbial aisle, with Mark as James’s best man. They had had a few awkward moments, but on the whole, their little family had found a groove with each other that got easier with each passing day. Hope had two daddies who loved her, two mummies who adored her, and plenty of spares. That was the best thing. They said it took a village to raise a child, and Hope had that. Right here in Westfield. Everyone adored her, and she was the happiest child in the world.
Another scream erupted, followed by a crash, and Mark and Annabel walked into the waiting room.
‘Dada!’ Hope shouted, and James put her down on the floor so she could toddle over. Mark smiled and, picking her up, snuggled her in close.
‘Hello, sweetpea, is Auntie Cassie making a noise?’
Hope gurgled, playing with Mark’s tie as he sat down with her. Annabel was looking anxiously at the door, looking a bit green. Maria looked at James questioningly, but he just shrugged.
‘You okay, Anna?’ she asked her, moving to sit next to her.
They could hear a commotion from outside in the corridor, and Annabel flinched.
‘Do you think something’s wrong?’ she murmured. Mark put his hand over hers.
‘No, love,’ he said, putting Hope onto her knee. ‘Here, say hi to Hopey.’
Annabel planted a big smacker on her tummy, making her laugh.
‘Hey, baby!’ she said, and Maria smiled, watching the two interact.
‘You sure you’re okay?’ Maria pressed. Annabel had just opened her mouth to speak when the door opened and Tucker walked in, his black T-shirt torn and his left eye red and rapidly swelling shut.
Maria ran over to him.
‘Oh my God, you okay?’
Tucker nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
‘It’s a girl!’
The whole room erupted into excited whoops and Maria picked Hope up and held her close.
‘You hear that, little one? You have a new best friend, just like Mummy.’ She hugged Tucker after James and Mark had finished congratulating him and slapping him on the back.
‘Congratulations, Jesse! Are they both okay? What happened to your eye?’
He chuckled, his Australian twang filling the room.
‘You know what she’s like. I’m just glad she didn’t manage to get a utensil. She kicked a midwife by accident and knocked her clean over the bed, catching me square in the face with her heel.’
Maria giggled, realising that must have been the crash they heard.
‘What about the baby?’ Tucker’s smile widened, if that was possible.
‘She’s bloody gorgeous. Jet-black hair, just like her mother. Go and see her, she’s just getting settled.’
Annabel appeared behind them, looking like a startled rabbit.
‘How bad was it?’ she asked earnestly. Tucker shrugged. ‘It was amazing, to be honest, minus the injuries. I had to comp the midwives a meal at the restaurant, for their trauma.’
Annabel looked relieved, and Maria noticed her putting her hand over her stomach.
‘Oh my God,’ she said quietly, passing Hope to James and going over to her. ‘You’re pregnant, aren’t you!’
Annabel’s eyes bulged and she burst into tears. The men in the room suddenly became very interested in playing with Hope at the other end of the room.
‘Yes,’ she said, sobbing.
‘That’s a good thing, right?’ Maria’s heart sank. Was something wrong? Was it because Mark already had a child? Maria hoped it wouldn’t cause problems, not when things were so good now.
‘Yes, but…’ Anna sobbed again. ‘I’m terrified!’
Maria chuckled despite herself and pulled her friend to her.
‘You and Mark are naturals. It’ll be great and we’re here for you, every step.’
Annabel sniffed and smiled weakly.
‘You sure?’
‘Of course! We’re family!’
Later that night, after seeing Cassie and Jesse totally besotted with their new daughter, Catherine Alecia Tucker, and going out for dinner to celebrate Annabel and Mark’s news about baby Smith to be, Maria and James bathed a very overexcited and sticky Hope and snuggled her in her cot in James’s Harrogate home. Now their home. Maria still used the shop flat, of course, and it was handy for a break, or to change Hope, or put her down for a nap. A home from home. Happy Ever After was her home too. She had grieved her mother there, met the love of her life, met her family, and nurtured their daughter. She was so happy she would never have to let it go.
She was planning weddings again too, and she had rather a special one on the cards for next year. Her own best friend, marrying the hunky Australian she had picked up on a boozy night out and never quite shaken off. Bridezilla syndrome wasn’t a problem for that wedding, though. Cassie would have got married at the side of KFC, dressed in her yoga pants. It would be a challenge, if nothing else.
They sat together on the sofa, watching Hope’s chest rise and fall on the baby monitor screen, listening to her contented snuffles as James poured them both a glass of wine from a chilled bottle.
‘Well, what a day,’ James mused, holding the glass out to her. She reached for it and he pulled it back out of her reach, puckering up his full lips. She chuckled, leaning in to kiss him. He smelt of James: mints and aftershave. He smelt of their daughter too, and she kissed him again.
‘What a day indeed,’ she agreed, taking the wine from him and taking a long glug.
James sank back into the cushions, bringing her with him.
‘I was thinking, maybe we should think about having another baby.’
Maria looked across at him, not quite believing her own ears.
‘Another baby? You getting broody after today?’
He laughed, a low rumble that reverberated through his body to hers.
‘Yeah, well, we have this big house, and a spare room. Maybe another Chance would be good. A playmate for Hope.’
Maria thought of baby Catherine, and Annabel’s news.
‘I don’t think she’ll be short of them somehow.’
James turned to her, sitting forward and taking her wine from her.
‘Ah, Mrs Chance, but another baby in this house, made from you and I, that would be pretty great, eh?’
He started to unbutton her blouse slowly, flicking a look at the monitor and then waggling his eyebrows devilishly at her.
‘Besides, we’re newlyweds, so a bit of practice would be good, at the very least.’
She enjoyed the feeling of his warm, familiar hands on her body before she started to undo his shirt.
‘Well, last time we took a chance it worked out well, didn’t it?’
James smirked at her, pulling down her blouse and toying with her bra strap.
‘Exactly,’ he breathed as she ran her hands down his chest. ‘Everyone needs a second Chance.’
She giggled at his quip. He bit his lip then, and she realised he was nervous.
‘You’re deadly serious, aren’t you? You really want this?’
He looked deep into her eyes with the blue-green sparklers she loved so much. She would never get tired of looking at this man, of being the centre of his world. She imagined a baby, sleeping upstairs with Hope, those blue-green eyes, just like his daddy’s.
‘Yes,’ he replied, dropping a kiss on her collarbone. ‘I love you, Maria Chance. I want another baby with you, a sibling for our daughter. What do you say?’ He kissed her again, this time on the lips, slowly.
She kissed him back and touched her forehead against his as they held each other.
‘I say we’re going to need a bigger village.’