Chapter 30
‘Bloody hell!’ said Taffy with feeling, as they walked back to the car. ‘Talk about efficiency. You walk in expecting one baby and ninety minutes later, you’ve got two on delivery and ahead of schedule! And they say the NHS is unproductive.’ He swung Holly’s hand gently as they walked along, a lightness to his step that made him seem even taller.
‘You could put that on a poster for Reception if you like?’ Holly volunteered, still veering alternately between shell-shocked and over the moon. It wasn’t so much the prospect of twins that had floored her, as the accelerated time frame. How on earth had she not known she was pregnant for nearly four months?
‘Well this certainly explains the obsessive Hobnob consumption,’ Taffy said, almost as though he was reading her mind. ‘I’ve never seen anybody cry when they ran out of biscuits before.’
Holly laughed. ‘I’m afraid there’s more of that to come, if last time is any guide. I sat on the floor and sobbed because we’d run out of cherry tomatoes, if memory serves.’
Taffy scowled. ‘So you’re basically saying that Ben and Tom were healthy eaters even before they were born, but my offspring are already addicted to junk food.’
How quickly they had slipped into talking in the plural, Holly realised as she slid into the passenger seat, content to let Taffy drive until the latest wave of nausea passed. ‘Yup,’ she said easily, unable to resist the opportunity to tease him. ‘They’re already addicted to KitKats and Pringles as well. What I can’t work out is, if there are two of them, and they are each fifty per cent you, then why aren’t they kicking up a storm already?’ She laid a hand protectively on her tiny bump; the same little bump she had assumed to be partially sponsored by Cornettos and tubular snacks. Given her dates, though, she was actually now worrying about them being underweight. Pregnancy the first time around had made her go out at the ears and in at the ankles. This time, she looked more like a Tasmanian Devil, with slim arms and legs and a definite absence of waist.
‘You heard Cormack – every pregnancy is different. Or maybe you’re just harbouring two girl babies under my shirt.’ He grinned, rather touched that Holly had snaffled one of his soft, faded cotton shirts as her chosen pregnancy attire. With her hair tousled into a ponytail, she barely looked her age and she was certainly glowing, although she swore up and down that that was just perspiration from the regular vomming.
‘Do you think we should make an official announcement?’ Holly asked as they wove through the outskirts of Bath towards Larkford. ‘I reckon I’ve got another two weeks of just looking porky before this bump pops out and there’s no fooling anyone.’
Taffy nodded. ‘Let’s make sure we tell Dan, Grace and Alice before they hear it elsewhere, though. I don’t want them worrying about what this means at The Practice, even if we haven’t got it all figured out yet.’
‘How do you think they’ll react?’ Holly asked.
‘They’ll be thrilled, because we’re thrilled,’ Taffy said firmly, as though any alternative was simply unthinkable. And in his world of simple male camaraderie he probably had a point. It obviously had never occurred to him that there was a certain politics when it came to pregnancy, a certain discretion depending on who you were talking to. The thought reminded her of Jemima, who had endured four cycles of fertility treatment to conceive their longed-for child.
‘Mims was looking well, wasn’t she?’ Holly said. ‘And her baby is due in two months so there’s hardly an age gap – perfect playmate already.’
‘Maybe you can persuade her of the benefits of a hospital birth while you’re chatting. She’s absolutely convinced that a midwife-led water birth is the way forward.’
Holly didn’t answer. She’d wanted much the same herself the first time around, before it became obvious that, with twins, it would have been madness. ‘If everything’s straightforward, then why shouldn’t she?’ Holly offered. ‘It’s just such a shame about Rosemore. I know she’d prefer it. In fact, if it was still open, I’d be keen for a few days there after these little tykes are born. I can’t tell you what a difference it makes getting off on the right foot: feeling supported and having a little extra help while you’re feeling so sore.’
Taffy frowned. ‘Wouldn’t you want to get home straight away?’
Holly shrugged. ‘I’m just saying that it’s something to consider. If it’s even an option any more, that is. Those first few nights—’ She blew her fringe out of her eyes with the force of her exhalation.
Taffy silently signalled and took the Larkford exit, a flicker of concern passing across his face as he glanced sideways at Holly. ‘I’m beginning to wonder whether everything I thought I knew about pregnancy is purely theoretical,’ he said quietly.
Holly’s hunger for Teddy’s salted potato wedges had taken on dangerous proportions by the time they reached Larkford and, as they pulled up outside The Kingsley Arms, they were both in buoyant mood. They’d logged in with the babysitter and, taking advantage of whatever sorcery she’d employed to get both Ben and Tom off to sleep in record time, they decided to make the most of the glorious summer evening.
‘No time like the present to share our news . . .’ Taffy said, noticing Grace and Dan huddled in conversation in the pub garden. ‘Are you ready to meet your public, girls?’ Taffy said, one hand automatically reaching for Holly’s bump.
Holly hesitated for a moment. ‘Shouldn’t we wake the boys and tell them first?’
Taffy guffawed. ‘And I thought I was the newbie! Never wake a sleeping child – isn’t that what you told me at orientation?’
A tap at the window made them both jump.
‘You two look incredibly suspicious in there,’ Grace informed them. ‘Are you so starved of quality time that you have to make out in the car park?’
‘Yup,’ said Taffy, popping open the door and coming round to let Holly out, the twins having somehow engineered the child locks to be stuck on every door. ‘In fact we were just coming over to join you, if we may?’
Grace grinned. ‘The more the merrier – you can help me persuade Dan that having an office parrot is a health and safety risk.’
‘I would LOVE a parrot,’ Taffy said, his ears pricking up at the very notion.
‘See,’ said Dan amiably, as Taffy and Holly sat down at the table. ‘Just think of the fun we could have teaching it to talk to the patients. Besides, the Major’s already done the hard work for us. Phillip can say about two hundred words apparently—’
‘None of them clean,’ interjected Grace, glancing at Holly for support.
‘Phillip?’ Holly queried, wondering whether she really wanted to pursue this line of questioning.
‘The Major’s African Grey,’ Taffy clarified. ‘Crikey, I can’t believe he wants to give him away.’
Dan blushed. ‘Well, to be fair, it’s more a case of Marion putting her foot down. Every time Phillip sees her, he comments on the size of her bottom.’
‘And you want this bird at The Practice?’ Grace exclaimed.
‘Seems a shame for him to leave Larkford just because he enjoys an ample derrière. He moved here as a chick, you know,’ Dan protested, ever the softie.
Grace rolled her eyes affectionately. ‘And now he’s getting broody for a parrot. Somebody get this man a puppy!’ It was widely known that Dan’s loudly ticking biological clock had been at least partially instrumental in his break-up with Julia Channing.
‘Talking of broody—’ Taffy blurted out.
‘Actually, since you’re both here—’ Holly began at the same time, before catching Taffy’s eye and laughing. ‘We have a little news of our own.’
Dan grinned widely. ‘Oh thank God, you’ve decided to elope after all and save me the bother of renting a morning suit?’
Taffy laughed. ‘Never say never, mate, but actually—’
‘I’m pregnant,’ interrupted Holly, determined to be the one to share the news.
The grin on Grace’s face said it all. ‘But then you already suspected that, didn’t you, Grace?’ Holly realised.
Grace leaned in and kissed her. ‘Well, you did practically rugby tackle Lucy for the last KitKat the other day, so I may have had my suspicions. But oh – how wonderful this is! Congratulations, you two. You have quite literally made my day. When’s the baby due?’
Dan shook Taffy’s hand vigorously, rather too vigorously in fact, seemingly short of words that would make a coherent sentence. Holly could just about make out the words ‘bloody well done’ but the rest was a mystery to her.
‘Ah, well, that’s the other thing.’ She rested her hands on her shirt and Taffy smiled at her with so much adoration that she too found herself lost for words.
‘We’re having twins!’ Taffy blurted out. ‘That’s two babies!’
Dan guffawed with laughter then. ‘We know what twins are, you muppet. The question is, do you have any idea what’s in store for you?’ He clapped Taffy on the back. ‘Now this, I have to see!’
Dan pulled Holly into his arms and hugged her, dropping a little kiss on her forehead. ‘Well played, Holls. Well played.’
‘You make it sound as though I did this on purpose. But you do have to admit, it is very efficient. One pregnancy, one Caesarean, a lifetime of chaos and nappies ahead.’ She grinned. ‘I honestly can’t wait.’
Dan froze for a moment. ‘You’re going to want time off work then?’
They all turned to look at him as though he had sprouted a second head.
‘It is traditional,’ offered Holly. ‘But we’ve plenty of time to sort out maternity cover. It’ll be fine.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ repeated Dan, as though in a trance and if he said the words often enough, he might actually mean them.
‘It will be more than fine; it will be just wonderful,’ interrupted Grace. ‘I am honestly so chuffed for you two. You deserve a little magic. Have you thought what you’ll do about the wedding?’
‘Oh crap, the wedding!’ Holly exclaimed, as the reality of a twin pregnancy dawned on her. She’d be breezing down the aisle like a ship in full sail at this rate.
‘Just what every bridegroom wants to hear,’ said Taffy, shaking his head. ‘Maybe Dan had a point and we should just elope before we need to roll you into church?’
‘Well, you’re braver than me,’ interjected Dan. ‘Who’s going to tell Elsie that her big country wedding is off?’
‘It’s not off,’ Holly said with feeling. ‘We might just need to postpone it a little, add a few . . . tweaks?’ She squared up her shoulders at the very thought. ‘You know what, though? I don’t want to think about that today. There’s plenty of time for worrying about the logistics of work and weddings and whatnot. Today is for celebrating! Let’s track down Alice and we can all have lasagne at ours.’
Dan shook his head. ‘You’re all quite mad, but I happen to be thrilled to bits for you and I love lasagne, so count me in.’
‘Alright, Garfield,’ teased Taffy. ‘Now, let’s talk about my paternity leave, shall we? I can’t help noticing that these babies are due during the rugby season, possibly during the All Blacks tour, no less.’ He clapped a hand on Dan’s shoulders as they walked across the pub garden and Holly had honestly never seen him so happy.