The Country Doctor's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page A

had been sceptical, but now it had appeared tohave the desired results. A baby at last!
    ‘It’ll make all the difference to Christmas, Mum, our first without Dad – you’ll be coming to us this year, and I’ll come to church with you and belt out “Silent Night”!’
    What a comfort she was, this elder daughter of hers, thought Phyllis gratefully. Living near each other as they did, a baby would be the centre of their world.
    ‘Let’s go shopping on Saturday, Mum – we’ll have a look in Mothercare and see what they’ve got. Marion dressed her two in cosy little sleeping suits.’
    ‘It’s
much
too early to go shopping, dear, we’ll have to be really sure,’ warned Phyllis cautiously.
    ‘But I
am
sure, Mum, I can feel it down here in my pelvis, it’s
there
!’
    Lord, let it be true, Phyllis prayed silently. Let them have their wish,
please
, let it be!
     
    Saturday was chilly but fine, and Jenny appeared at the door early, ready to go ‘window shopping’ in Mothercare. There she and her mother looked at cots, clothes and little toys to dangle from the top of the cot or pram. In the maternity-wear section Jenny noticed a beautiful dress in midnight-blue velvet.
    ‘Isn’t it exquisite, Mum? I’m tempted to buy it now, before it gets sold. Yes, that’s what I’ll do.’
    ‘I’ll get it for you, dear,’ said Phyllis, though the dress was quite expensive, and as she paid for it,she told herself silently that with the addition of a soft leather belt it would be a good dress for formal occasions if by any sad chance …
    That was when Jenny caught sight of the bear.
    ‘Mum! Just look at that gorgeous teddy bear, up on the shelf, see, the one with the red bow tie!’
    Phyllis agreed that he was a handsome fellow with a smiley face, but—
    Jenny was asking to see the bear, and took him from the assistant’s hand. ‘Feel him, Mum, he’s so soft and cuddly – mmm!’
    Like the dress, the bear was expensive, but Phyllis could not deny her daughter. The salesgirl put him into a Mothercare bag, which Jenny put into her own shopping bag, leaving his head sticking out above it.
    ‘Definitely a case of love at first sight,’ smiled the assistant as they turned to leave the store with their purchases. They ran straight into a notorious gossip as she was emerging from the hairdresser’s.
    ‘Oho!’ she said at the sight of the bear. ‘Isn’t he
adorable
? Now I wonder who
he’s
going to belong to!’
    Phyllis started to say that it was early days yet, but Jenny’s shining eyes were answer enough for the interested lady. ‘So you’ve managed it at last – well done! Congratulations!’
    ‘We’re not saying anything yet,’ said Phyllis hastily, but it was too late. Jenny Gifford’s news would soon be all over Everham, and by Monday morning it had reached Everham Primary School.
    ‘We’re all so happy for you, Jenny,’ chorused her colleagues in the staff room, and even the headmaster came to her classroom.
    ‘Glad to hear your news, Mrs Gifford,’ he said quietly, using the formal address in front of the children. ‘And it will give your mother something to look forward to – good timing!’
    ‘Thank you, Mr North,’ she said, blushing happily, and he left the room with his unspoken thoughts:
trouble is, the little buggers grow up. I wish them better luck than we’ve had
.
     
    Sister Kelly, buxom and bustling, showed Bridget Hammond into the single room on the gynaecological ward which was to be hers during her stay in hospital, with its en suite bathroom and toilet, moveable bed-table, locker and call-bell.
    ‘All you have to do is press that, and a nurse will come to answer it, Mrs Hammond. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee now?’
    When Shelagh went to see her mother at lunchtime, she was relieved to find Bridget clearly impressed.
    ‘It’s better than I expected, girl. Ye never told me it was like one o’ them four-star hotels where grand folks go for their