The Fairy Godmother Part 54

“I didn’t think I’d see you this soon,” said Jessie standing at the garden gate. I hadn’t really thought about where I was going when I’d waved my wand, but something had brought me here. “Is there anything wrong with Rosie?”

“No,” I said. “Well, not as far as I know. Last I heard she had made a full recovery.”

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here and come to that how did you know where we were?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I was having a rough time with my Mother and I just waved the wand to get out of there and it brought me here.”

“I didn’t know you had a mother,” said Jessie. “Sorry, that was a bit insensitive, of course you have a mother.”

“It’s OK, I’ve only just found out who she is,” I sighed. “She couldn’t deny it any longer.”

“That’s bad,” said Jessie. “Would you like to come in, have a cup of tea and talk about it?”

“A cup of tea would be nice, I’m not sure about talking about it though,” I replied. “How are Ella and Ian doing?”

“They are doing fine,” Jessie smiled. “And aren’t you going to ask about this little one?” she asked, patting her stomach.

“Little one?” I said looking confused.

“Don’t fairies have babies the same as humans?” Jessie asked walking up the garden path.

“You’re pregnant?” I asked. There was me thinking she had put on a bit of weight, following her up the garden path I could see that it was quiet a lot of weight. “When is it due?” I asked cautiously.

“It was supposed to arrive last week, but babies never arrive on time,” she smiled and then grabbed her stomach and gasped in pain.

“Where are Ian and Ella?” I asked helping her into the house.

“They just went down to the park for a bit,” said Jessie trying to get her breath back.

“They should be here,” I said, tapping my mobile phone. The phone on the hall stand rang.

“I told him to take his mobile,” gasped Jessie.

“I could wave my wand,” I said.

“It’s OK, it’s eased off again,” she sighed, sitting down in the kitchen.

“Does that mean the alarm is over?” I asked.

“For the umpteenth time,” Jessie sighed. “I’ve had so many false alarms, even I have lost count.”

“How about I get you a cup of tea and you can tell me all about the little one?” I suggested.

“You are the only one who hasn’t realised I’m pregnant,” said Jessie.

“They don’t go on much about babies in fairy school,” I replied. “They don’t mention much about parents either for that matter.”

“You said your mother only recently admitted who she was,” said Jessie. “Did you know her, as a fairy that is, not your mother, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes,” I replied. “I’d been working in the same department as her for several years.”

“And she didn’t tell you she was your mother?” asked Jessie.

“No, not one word,” I sighed. “Not even when I mentioned that others knew who their parents were.”

“That’s rough,” said Jessie. “Did she tell you why she didn’t keep you?”

“Father went off with someone else and she didn’t feel like bringing me up by herself,” I said.

“That’ s rough,” she replied. “Shame your friend Enid wasn’t your Mum, I got the impression she wouldn’t have let something like that stand in her way.”

“Unfortunately you are wrong about her,” I replied. “She is my Mum, she called me Myrtle and then handed me in to the nursery for them to look after.”

“And you never suspected a connection?” Jessie asked.

“I did, but she said the mother couldn’t carry me, so she had carried me for her, like you carried Rosie,” I explained. “She only admitted it when there was no way out.”

“And you had a row with her?” asked Jessie.

“Yes, but not about that,” I sighed. “All these years I wanted to find her, now I have I just wanted to get away from her.”

“Have you thought about a holiday?” Jessie suggested.

“I went for one,” I replied.

“What went wrong?” Jessie asked.

“She followed me,” I replied. “And the place I chose wasn’t in the state I thought it would be in.”

“Go on,” Jessie smiled.

“Two people I helped, they were going to do up a hotel, it was on the coast, beautiful beach, lovely weather, you name it,” I sighed. “Unfortunately other people had ideas of what they wanted to do with the land and they were making any work on the hotel impossible.”

“So the beautiful hotel was a tip and then your Mum turns up and starts taking over,” said Jessie.

“You’ve got it in one,” I replied. “So long she didn’t want any part in my life, now she’s made a mess of hers, she’s all over me, being all buddy buddy whilst telling me what a mess I’ve made of things.”

“And I thought I had problems with my Mum,” sighed Jessie.

“What does she think of the little one?” I asked.

“I haven’t told her about it,” Jessie replied. “After what happened last time, I don’t want her anywhere near this pregnancy.”

“I can understand that,” I sighed. “Though it may be a bit hard on your Dad.”

“I know, but I couldn’t work out how to keep in touch with him without her knowing,” said Jessie, gasping in pain and grabbing her stomach.

“Is that another contraction?” I asked.

“I need the toilet,” said Jessie staggering to her feet and making a dash for it. Just as the bathroom door shut, the front door opened and Ella and Ian walked in, looking all excited after racing up the road together.

“Where’s Jessie?” asked Ian as soon as he saw me.

“She’s just nipped to the loo,” I smiled.

“Is Rosie OK?” asked Ella.

“Rosie is fine,” I replied.

“It’s coming,” Jessie shouted from the bathroom. “It’s really coming this time.”

“What?” shouted Ian dashing up the stairs.

“We need to ring for an ambulance,” Ella told me.

“Why?” I asked.

“The baby is about to be born and Mummy needs to be in the hospital,” Ella explained.

“Then I’d better ring for an ambulance,” I replied, fishing out my mobile phone.

“I’ll get Mummy’s bag for her,” said Ella. “She put it behind the sofa so that she didn’t trip up over it.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” I replied, though I hadn’t the first idea of what she was talking about.

The ambulance arrived as Ian guided Jessie down the stairs.

“I should ring for an ambulance,” he said as the door bell rang, Ella opened the door and there stood an ambulance man.

“I believe someone is about to give birth,” he said, looking at Jessie.

“That would be me,” she said.

“You go with Jessie and I’ll bring Ella along,” I said to Ian as Ella handed Jessie’s bag to him, he took it without registering what it was and followed Jessie to the ambulance.

“Are we going by wand?” asked Ella.

“Well,” I smiled. “I don’t have a car and I don’t know how to drive, so it would seem the most logical way to go.”

“Wont we get there before Mum and Dad?” asked Ella. A very bright child, I hadn’t thought of that.

“I’ll time it to arrive at the same time as them, so we can go in with your parents,” I told her.

“That would be a good idea,” agreed Ella. “Should I ring their parents?”

“I think I would leave it to them, if I were you, there seem to be a few issues there that they need to resolve,” I said.

“They aren’t doing anything to make things better,” said Ella. “And I miss my grandparents.”

“They should be there,” said Enid, stepping out of the shadows.

“I wondered when you would turn up,” I said, then waved my wand and took myself and Ella to the hospital just in time to see Jessie being helped out of the ambulance.

By Janice Nye © 2020