Tiddas Read Online Free PDF Page B

thinking about it, when she was on the bus or driving or flying and not reading her work papers, she was thinking about it. She was thinking about it in her sleep.
    Ever since she and Spencer had decided to have a family, everywhere Xanthe looked she saw women in various stages of pregnancy, babies in strollers, kids’ clothes in catalogues, baby formula on the shelf in the supermarket. At any given time she had at least one pregnancy test in her bag and one in the bathroom drawer. She’d been known to take a test if she was a day late. To her credit, Xanthe was aware of her obsession, though she wasn’t concerned; she imagined it was normal for any woman who was maternal to be like she was. But tonight, after trying to consume all the IVF literature she’d amassed recently, she was just grateful for somethingother than work and conceiving to think about, even for a few hours. She was also looking forward to drinking something other than the Chinese herbs one of her clients had recommended.
    The doorbell rang, shocking Xanthe out of her pregnancy headspace. As she slipped the books into a drawer in the sideboard in the entry hall, she could hear her friends’ cackles even before she reached the front door.
    â€˜Hey!’ She smiled as her four tiddas stood with books and bottles and gifts of flowers and chocolates in their hands.
    Richard had dropped the designated-drinker Nadine to Veronica’s in The Gap and they arrived together. Izzy had picked Ellen up from a memorial service at the Greek Club in West End and like clockwork all the tiddas had pulled up in the leafy street at the same time.
    â€˜Welcome to my humble abode,’ Xanthe said proudly as she ushered the ladies through to the living room.
    â€˜You’ve done wonders with this place, Xanthe,’ said Izzy admiringly. ‘It looks amazing, and tidy .’
    It had been five months since Izzy had last been there and she was mentally comparing the spotless space to the mess her own flat was. She had lost all interest in keeping house in the last two months or so as she was trying to work, having to deal with morning sickness and still deciding what to do about her pregnancy. Izzy was clear about her career; it was the most important thing in her life. A child would only destroy her plans – and her waistline, she reminded herself. And between her work and training she’d not even made the time for a consultation with her local GP about a procedure.But she was thinking about herself, number one, and what made her happy each day was still her main concern. Her obsession about not wanting a baby was only matched by Xanthe’s about having one.
    â€˜Oh, it’s home,’ Xanthe smiled with pride as she put the sunshine yellow gerberas and liliums Nadine had given her in a vase while the girls settled themselves on couches. ‘We like it, but it does get hot here sometimes without a breeze. Other than that, it’s great.’
    â€˜Sis, you’ve got a good set up here in Paddo,’ Ellen said. She’d been semi-homeless since the floods forced her to evacuate her riverside apartment at Kangaroo Point. ‘You can’t really complain about life here, eh?’
    â€˜Is this upper or lower Paddington?’ Nadine asked, not meaning to sound as bourgeois as she did.
    â€˜Very funny,’ Xanthe said, pouring Pimms and vodka cocktails from a glass jug into highballs for everyone, only pausing when Izzy put a hand over the top of her glass to decline.
    â€˜I’m good,’ she mouthed silently.
    â€˜I’m never going to be upper anything, and as I’m at the bottom of a hill, I doubt it could be classified as upper anyway.’ Xanthe had never heard of ‘upper Paddington’.
    â€˜Love, if nothing else, at least you live at the top of the food chain,’ Izzy said, always one for a good meal, before she was nauseous all the time, that is.
    Xanthe looked confused.