“Good morning sleepy head,” murmured James, stroking Myrtle’s hair.
“Morning?” Myrtle replied. “What time is it?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s our honeymoon,” James smiled.
“Honeymoon,” muttered Myrtle. “Like that’s going to stop her,” she added, getting out of bed and grabbing her dressing gown.
“Stop who?” asked James.
“Mother,” Myrtle replied.
“And what is it that she’s likely to do? It isn’t as if she’d come here, it’s our honeymoon!” James smiled.
“That wouldn’t stop her, she wouldn’t think twice,” said Myrtle checking the mirror to make sure she looked decent.
“And how is she going to find us?” asked James. “Even I don’t know where we are.”
“It is always possible to trace a Fairy Godmother, if you know how,” said Myrtle.
“You asked Ethel not to tell her,” James reminded Myrtle.
“I know, but she’s terrified of Mother, she’d just have to ask and Ethel will tell her everything, right down to the room number,” said Myrtle.
“So what are you going to do?” asked James.
“I’ll look round the rooms and see if she’s here,” said Myrtle.
“Then I’d better get dressed and join you,” said James getting out of the bed.
“That would be a good idea,” stuttered Myrtle as he pulled his dressing gown on. Myrtle had one last look in the mirror to check that she was decent and one last check that James was as well and then she opened the door to the living room.
“I was beginning to wonder if I aught to wake you up,” said Enid. “Don’t want your breakfast to go cold.”
“Did Ethel tell you where we were?” asked Myrtle.
“She did try telling me some rubbish about you asking her not to tell me, but I said she must have got it wrong,” Enid smiled.
“It is our honeymoon,” Myrtle explained.
“I know, just the time when a young girl might want her mothers advice on something or other,” said Enid. “You really aught to start on your breakfast, especially in your condition.”
“If you don’t know what the advice would be about, how can you possibly provide it?” asked James, trying to remind Enid he was there.
“I couldn’t possibly say what advice, not with a man in the room,” Enid smiled.
“What do you mean, my condition?” asked Myrtle.
“Well, you’re eating for two now,” said Enid.
“How can you possibly tell,” said James. “There isn’t any test that can tell so soon after.”
“Perhaps not, but I am a fairy godmother and therefore I can tell,” Enid replied smugly.
“That’s rubbish, isn’t it?” James asked Myrtle.
“No,” said Myrtle. “And she’s right.”
“So, do you want to carry the baby or shall I find someone to carry it for you?” asked Enid.
“I will carry my own baby, just like you did,” said Myrtle.
“And afterwards?” asked Enid.
“I will look after my own baby,” said Myrtle. “I’m not dumping it in a home.”
“That’s all very well for you to say,” Enid replied, looking at James.
“I think we need to talk about our baby,” said James. “And by we, I mean Myrtle and I.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Enid smiled. “I wont interrupt.”
“No you wont interrupt, because you are leaving,” said Myrtle.
“But!” stuttered Enid.
“If you are here nothing will stop you putting your two pennyworth in, if we aren’t careful we wont get a word in sideways. So, I’m sorry Mother, but I will have to ask you to leave. We will let you know what we have decided to do later,” said Myrtle.
“I know when I’m not wanted,” said Enid, waving her wand.
“And no listening in,” shouted Myrtle.
“As if I’d do such a thing,” Enid’s voice echoed round the room.
“Can you really tell after such a short time?” asked James.
“Remember when we got rid of Mum for about an hour,” said Myrtle.
“I said we’d better make the most of our time,” James smiled.
“I think we made more of it than we thought,” smiled Myrtle, patting her stomach. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, as long as I am part of this,” he replied.
“What do you mean?” asked Myrtle.
“I want to be there for you, for the pregnancy, morning sickness, whatever. For the birth. You don’t mind giving birth do you?” James asked.
“When I said I wanted to carry my baby, our baby, I meant right through the birth and afterwards. I wont be handing our little one over to anyone one else to bring up,” said Myrtle.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said James. “And I want to be there with you, every step of the way.”
“Get the sick bucket, could you two be any more soppy,” said Enid appearing next to them. “The family aren’t going to think much of this. You’ve got married without telling them and now you are pregnant and want to carry the child and care for it. How are you going to carry on as a Godmother!”
“You managed,” said Myrtle.
“I couldn’t work, not once it started to show and once you were born, I had to find baby sitters, it just didn’t work,” said Enid. “That’s why I took you to the nursery. It was the worst day of my life.”
“We will make it work,” said James.
“And what can you do, give up working as a Doctor?” asked Enid.
“There are plenty of married couples who carry on working even when they have children,” said James. “We will find a way.”
“Exactly,” said Myrtle. “Times have changed, we will find a way. You could always help with a bit of baby sitting.”
“Baby sitting, what do you mean by baby sitting?” asked Enid.
“Just looking after the baby for an afternoon or a day or something,” said Myrtle. “We’ll make sure that you know what to do.”
“I have looked after a baby before,” snapped Enid.
“How long for?” asked James.
“Nearly a month,” said Enid. “Well, eleven days and nights.”
“You can catch up with all the things you missed out on with me,” said Myrtle. “Secure in the knowledge that at the end of the day you can hand baby back to me.”
“I think that could be do able,” said Enid.
“You could talk to Velvet about it,” Myrtle suggested.
“She does know a thing or two about bringing up children and pregnancy,” said Enid. “You might be well advised to talk to her yourself.”
“I’ll do that, after the honeymoon,” said Myrtle.
“Don’t you want to go now?” asked Enid. “There is no time like the present.”
“I think, I want to spend time with my husband,” said Myrtle. “I can talk to Velvet after the honeymoon is over.”
“As you wish,” said Enid.
“That doesn’t mean that you can’t talk to her now,” suggested James.
“Yes, well, if you don’t mind?” Enid asked.
“No,” Myrtle and James said together.
“I’m sure we will have plenty to talk about,” said Enid. “I’ll tell you about it all later.”
“When we’ve come back from out honeymoon,” said Myrtle.
“Something like that,” said Enid vanishing with a swish of her wand.
“Do you think she’ll stay away?” asked James.
“I’ve texted Velvet to tell her,” smiled Myrtle. “She’ll keep Mum busy.”
“Then perhaps we aught to finish this breakfast off and then, you will need to rest a bit,” said James.
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Myrtle.
A few tourist leaflets floated down to a small table next to the sofa.
“I wouldn’t want to think of you getting board,” came Enid’s voice.
“I don’t think we are going to do that,” said Myrtle.
By Janice Nye © 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment