Chapter Thirteen

Lucy

When Aisha left, I wandered up the road to Sainsbury’s to pick up a few bits, including some ingredients to make another dish for tomorrow’s meeting. Confiding in Aisha had felt strange, but good, and I was feeling slightly giddy and free. She was so easy to talk to. That foreboding feeling cast a shadow over it all, reminding me that things weren’t quite right, I tried to push it away, but it became a little dry spot at the back of my throat. Ever present.

As I hunted down some pine nuts for the salad, I spotted Will by the sushi counter.

‘Rubbing it in are you – you can still have sushi, but we can’t?’ I joked.

‘Lucy! Hi. I’m sorry, it’s not fair is it?’ His face lit up to see me. An equally gorgeous guy appeared beside him. ‘Lucy, this is Christian, my husband.’

Christian stretched out his hand. ‘Hi. I was saving my big reveal for the group tomorrow, but you’ve got in first.’

‘I’m truly honoured,’ I replied. ‘I would curtsey, if I was capable of it.’

‘Will tells me that Maggie is quite the character,’ he said. He was as good-looking as Will, except a blond, white version. Together, they looked like an Abercrombie & Fitch poster.

‘She’s a strong personality all right. Get her onto vaginas and you’ll be fine.’

He ran a hand over his face and gave a puzzled laugh. ‘Not exactly my specialist subject.’

‘Of course! Sorry.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s fully prepped,’ Will said, holding a tray of fresh sushi in his hand. I looked at it enviously.

‘I’ll let you get on. Enjoy the sushi – lucky things!’

Chapter Fourteen

Aisha

I was determined to take a leaf out of Lucy’s book and get organized for tomorrow’s Baby Group meeting. Fortunately I was ahead of schedule with the draft illustrations for the new book I was working on. It was entitled Santa’s Busiest Christmas Ever. Christmas in May sounds ridiculous, but this was actually a short turnaround in the world of book publishing and my deadline was looming. I had been knee-deep in decisions about shades of red, types of sleigh and how big a pot belly to give my Santa for weeks now. I had gone for round and cuddly, with the snowiest of long, curly beards – verified as spot on during a FaceTime call with Tara’s boys. The next challenge was to ensure he didn’t look like he was headed for a stint in rehab by Boxing Day. Goodness knows 25^th December is busy enough for Mr Claus. The thought of his ‘busiest one ever’ made me want to have a nervous breakdown on his behalf. That, and a strong G&T. Oh how I missed gin. If there was one thing I craved the most and couldn’t have during pregnancy, it was gin.

Before I was pregnant, Dad used to send me cases of wine and gin on almost a monthly basis, but they had been replaced by random deliveries of kitchen appliances and John Lewis vouchers. I had to tell Jason that the masticating juicer that appeared in the kitchen a few weeks ago was second hand. I felt guilty about it, but at the same time couldn’t face another discussion with him about why Dad’s ‘treats’ needed to stop.